DBV Series 3: Preperation
by Verto-Briefs
Summary: I'm going to release some of your hidden powers, you will need them in the future' Old Kai said. 'So I'm going to be as strong as Gohan' Verto asked. 'On the contrary, you may be stronger, there is more hidden power in you that i cannot release...
1. Prologue

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Dragonball V Series # 3: Preparations**

**A/U, if you haven't read my first two sagas, allow me to bring you up to date. Though it will be easier to understand if you have.**

**Series one**: My character's name is Verto, a young Saiyan adopted by Vegeta and Bulma. But Verto is from an alternate timeline (our world), and was originally human, and was fully familiar with the Z fighters and the dragonballs thanks to the TV series. Thanks to the technology of Frieza in that universe, he is changed into a Saiyan very slowly and only becomes aware of it when Future Trunks and Future Bulma arrive. Once they intervene, they alter the process and make him a Saiyan child rather than an adult, to ensure stability and take Frieza's eye off Earth. Frieza is naturally furious and blows up the Earth just as the three escape. He attacks them in space and boards their ship to take them captive. Trunks sends Verto ahead into the DBZ universe that he had saved with his time machine, altering it again. There, Verto is adopted by the Briefs and is trained by Vegeta and Piccolo. Verto's transformed ape form is completely controlled and is a very small version of the giant ape form. This turns out to be a defect in the Saiyan's of Verto's universe, and Vegeta makes use of this by having sparring sessions with the transformed Saiyan and teaching him the fake moon technique. He is also a Super Saiyan, and the most powerful of the children soon after. After fighting in alternate universes along side Gohan and the young demi-saiyans after falling into a magical trap set by an old wizard, Verto finds himself as a leading protector of earth in the preparation for the battle with Buu. After meeting Videl and Chichi, he mistakenly becomes the most liked of the children, even though he attempts to act more like Vegeta and tries drive all of the pampering away, something he is unsuccessful in doing. Trunks and Goten get jealous of him pretty early on, but put up with him later when he saves them a few times. That doesn't stop them from pulling a good prank every now and then. When Trunks sees Verto and his father train together, his jealousy hits the roof and he demands on more training with his father as well when the tournament draws closer.

**Series Two** begins on the morning of the world tournament. Shin, the Supreme Kai, erases Verto's memory of his own world, making it impossible to predict what would happen next in the DBZ timeline. Events unfold closely similar to what they should, and soon after Vegeta, Verto sacrifices himself to give Goku the time to teach the boys fusion, as well as to save his newly found family. He fights Fat Buu more than evenly, nearly taking the monster down in his transformed state. Babidi interferes and destroys the fake moon in the sky, sealing Verto's fate. Afterwards he heads to Shin's planet with Goku to help Gohan attain his Mystic form. Shin also trains Verto for a time and he learns the Kaioken technique.

After Goku and Vegeta are granted life again, Buu rips a hole into Hell. This releases Frieza and Cell with newly enhanced powers, plus a huge army behind them. Shin goes to King Yemma for assistance, as Vegito has a tough enough time with part of the army reinforcing itself once he defeats it, on top of that he has to deal with Buu gathering power to destroy the universe. Other World sends Pikkon and Dabura to assist Vegito, but Cell and Frieza's armies overwhelm them. Shin's request is granted, and all the Saiyans that died in the past appear and wipe out Frieza's army in a spectacular battle. During the battle, the legendary Broly appears alive and well, and lands on Earth to help the Saiyans fight off Frieza and Cell. Shin seals the hole in hell, leaving all of the Saiyans to fight Buu.

After a battle involving the ultimate powered up state of Super Buu and Super Saiyan 3 Vegito, Buu barely wins, but Old Kai tricks him into releasing all of his captives. Buu destroys the earth once he assumes his kid form, Shin and Goku are able to teleport everyone away. Several battles later, on the Supreme Kai's planet, Verto is forced to use his transformed state backed by the Kaioken technique in order to hold off Buu while Goku gathers the spirit bomb. Eventually, the young Saiyan reverts, being put out cold, so Vegeta and the other fighters on the Kai planet are forced to jump in, despite their exhausted bodies.

When Buu puts all of the resistance down; Vegeta stubbornly hangs on as the Earth donates their energy to Goku, backed by Mr. Satan's words. Verto arises again to the tune of Super Saiyan plus Kaiokenx3 and saves Vegeta. Goku fires the bomb and runs of out power, only to be powered back up by the Namek dragon. After Buu is obliterated, the good Fat Buu reappears, and because he is pure hearted, the bomb couldn't hurt him while inside of Kid Buu. The Z fighters let him live, under Mr. Satan of course, and Broly returns to space in peace. In the end Verto and the demi-saiyans accompany Mr. Satan to a public thanking session in which Satan gives some of the credit to the gold fighters.

However it is revealed that a new enemy may be coming. One just as fearsome as Buu, except it is an entire race bent on consumption, they are called the Zerg. Dabura reveals that he has had altercations with them before and had supposedly lost his daughter to them as well. With this in mind, Verto and the Z fighters press onward in life, watching for the signs of invasion and prepare to meet them head on.

**This saga is the filler up to the invasion of the Zerg, concluding with the start of the invasion itself. Most of the really important things to know about the Zerg will be in this series, but mostly towards the end when more Zerg show up. The early part of this will be a comical/romance outing, turning darker and action packed. Obviously if you've never played the game of Starcraft, you will be in trouble.**

**Again I do not own Db/Z/GT, but I am a huge fan of it who had nothing better to do at the time, like I always say, write ideas down before they consume you. That way you can get to the next thought without repeating yourself again and again. **_**Peace out-D.T. aka Verto Briefs.**_

"**blah blah" talking out loud**

_**blah blah **_**thinking**

"_**blah blah" **_**thoughts shared, telepathic communication, or another source.**

**Rated PG-13 - R for language, violence and suggestive situations**


	2. BabySitters Worst Nightmare

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 1: Baby Sitters worst nightmare**

"You're kidding right?" I asked, not believing the situation before me.

"No, I am not the kidding type," Vegeta said.

"Humph, no argument there," I grunted slightly. It had been about a month since Buu's destruction, and life was going rather well even though all I ever did was train with the Saiyan prince. But he was asking me to do something I really didn't want any part of. _Training under five hundred times gravity is better than this!_

"Please Verto, you're the closest thing they have to a brother and are probably the only one capable of keeping those two from destroying the house while were gone. Not to mention keeping the babysitters alive," Bulma said, holding me tight by the shoulders. Over the past nine months I had grown accustomed to Bulma's mother like care for me and began referring to her as such even though it wasn't a relation.

"Besides, we're only going to be gone for a few days, and the babysitter we hired promised to stay so long as we pay for the whole four days. Four days won't be too bad, all you have to do is wear them down in the gravity room and they'll behave. And keep them away from the sugar!" Mom was almost begging me now. She did this because she knew it would work.

My heart melted into a puddle, "Fine, I'll keep the cretins under wraps, but don't be surprised when they destroy something. They have an outdated history for that ya know!" I said.

Mom hugged me tight, "Oh thank you kid, we'll bring ya back a girlfriend or something okay?" Mom gave my hanging tail a pet for good luck.

"I don't need a girlfriend, I'll need pain killers for the headache I'm gonna have," I muttered a little too loudly.

"Oh it won't be that bad," she tried to reassure me again, to no avail.

"In the extreme likely case that they do blow up the house, where can I reach you?" I asked, being rather serious.

"I'll have my private cell phone in the capsule house, you remember the number by now don't you?"

"Of course, all of the babysitters for the past two weeks have called it within an hour and I supplied the number," I groaned some more.

"If all else fails you can just contact Kakarot's first brat or the Namek, they will be able to reach us," Vegeta suggested. I nodded, not letting the scowl erase from my face. As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Since it was evening time, there was no one in the lobby to answer as Mrs. Briefs went to bed early and the employees had all gone home. Using patented ki sense, I reached out and found Goku and Chichi outside, along with half of the terrible twosome. As soon as the door opened, an orange blur flew through and into the hallways.

"Bye Mom, Bye Daddy!" Goten was already in Trunks room by the time we turned our heads.

"Whatever you do Goku, don't ever teach him Instant Transmission," Mom said, glaring down the hallway.

"I'll second that," I muttered.

"So are we already to go?" Chichi asked, gazing down at me.

"Just about, we need to wait for the sitter to show up, and frankly need to prepare her," Mom explained.

"I thought Verto was hanging behind to prevent such problems," Goku asked, looking at me.

"It was his suggestion last time we ate out," Vegeta snapped back into the conversation.

"So where are you going anyway?" I asked, not having been told the details.

"A far off island in the sea, it's pretty far from any civilization, about eight hundred miles south of here," Mom said.

"Are you sure about this Bulma, leaving those two here. You know what that leads to in just one night, never mind four days!" Chichi asked.

"I'm not worried, and if all else fails and the babysitter backs out. Verto will either have to deal with them himself, or get a new one," she beamed at me. _Oh great, just fucking great! Now if, no, WHEN they fuck up then I have to find another one or do it myself! Shit, this is not my lucky day_. _All right, calm down Verto. Don't curse out loud in front of Chichi or your headache will start early. You've been in tougher spots than this…_

"I better get the want ads up first thing in the morning," I snorted.

"I have to agree with you boy, better use the gravity chamber to it's maximum!" Vegeta laughed at me. A car drove up in the street, before vanishing as the owner had put it into capsule form.

A pretty girl with shoulder length brown hair walked up, "Mrs. Briefs?"

"Ah, Brenda, good to see you. Well everything is ready, and don't worry about cooking, the robots will take care of that. You would just burn yourself out if you tried!" Mom laughed slightly along with her. I quickly put my tail back into its waist wrapped position just as her eyes made their way to me.

"Is this Trunks, Mrs. Briefs? He looks a lot like your husband!" Brenda asked. My eyes widened in horror in tune with Vegeta's, but at least I didn't have to restrain myself from blasting her right there.

"No that's not Trunks, that is Verto, my other, son. He will be assisting you with Trunks and the other brat Goten," Vegeta quickly said after Mom grabbed his wrists and was tapping them slightly when Brenda wasn't looking.

"Oh so I'm watching three of them. Well that shouldn't be any big deal, with the money you're paying me," she looked slightly happy at the thought.

"By the way Brenda, did you bring the things we told you to bring?" Mom asked.

"Yeah, even though it sounded strange. Several extra things to wear besides the four days of clothes. A helmet, paint thinner, several mouth guards, three pairs of knee and elbow pads, and a lot of pain and stress reliever pills," she summed up her list while patting her suitcase capsule safely in her pocket.

"A few other things, first of all, Verto has all of the emergency numbers memorized, but there are several lists spread around the house. One in your guestroom, one in Verto's room, one in each bathroom and a few in the kitchen and lobby. Don't let them have any sugar if you can help it. Don't fall for the puppy dog eyes when they beg, and don't ever go into the room I told you about earlier," Mom said, a slightly stern tone.

"Right, the gravity room, or whatever you said it was," Brenda said, clearly not taking her very seriously.

"Now the daytime should be pretty easy, Verto will keep them occupied in that room during the day. Mealtimes shouldn't be too horrible as long as the robots don't break down. Nighttime will be the worst, I suggest you stay up during the night so they don't sneak down for the fridge. Get your sleep during the morning, you're gonna need it," Mom suggested again.

"Really Mrs. Briefs, you must take me for an amateur. I've sat for hundreds of kids and never had any problems. I'm sure I can handle these three," Brenda snorted slightly. I almost expected an explosion, but Mom's low ki remained calm.

I spoke for her instead, "You're about to have problems for the first time then." In the distance of the halls, my ears picked up on a crash, a faint one.

"Oh great, it's already started," Vegeta said.

"I think that was just the bookshelf, so far," I muttered. While Mom and Chichi were giving Brenda last minute precautions, Vegeta and Goku pulled me aside.

"Here, Kakarot and I got the emergency weapon for you, use it as needed," he said, handing me a small capsule that had a wristband attached to it.

"What is it?"

"The emergency weapon that works every time, Bulma had made spares just in case one broke," Vegeta smirked slightly and stood back up.

"Good luck Verto, you'll need it!" Goku said as they headed for the door.

"Goodbye son, try not to kill them!" Mom said as Chichi gave me a wave on their way out the door.

"Now it begins," I whispered, turning to face the babysitter.

-

"No offense kid, but your parents are paranoid!" Brenda began as she looked around the lobby curiously.

"And they have every right to be. This will be the toughest challenge you will ever face, I hope you're ready," I said, beckoning her to follow me down the right hallway.

"You three aren't going to intentionally create trouble are you?" she asked, trying her best tough attitude voice.

"Me, no, I'm the enforcer. However do me one favor, if they go wild during the night and I'm not up yet, get me up," I said, walking with my arms crossed Vegeta style. I stopped at the beginning of the hallway, where a punch clock was attached to the wall. Since Mom and Vegeta never knew how long the babysitters stuck around, I suggested they use it so I could clock them out when the sitters ran for the hills, which usually happened within two hours. I pressed a button and a card popped out.

"Write your name at the top please," I handed her a pen.

"What is this a time clock?"

"Yes, but don't worry, you aren't paid by the hour. You punch in now and punch out in four days, if you last that long," I added a slight warning tone at the end. She wrote in her name and clocked in, then proceeded to follow me. We walked for a few more meters when we came to the stairway.

"That goes upstairs to the bedrooms, watch it around here because they like to scare people by jumping out at you," I suggested, though her low ki level told me she wasn't paying much attention. _Well this fool is going down fast._

"Here is the living room, you'll probably spend little time here unless it's resting," I said, flipping on a light. We walked some more and passed the gravity room warning signs.

"Is that the gravity room?" she asked.

"Yes, I strongly suggest you stay away from there at all times if you can help it. If you need to get a hold of us while in there, either press the green button here, or dial emergency code seven on your list. That will ring me directly while I'm in there!"

"You make it sound as if the world is gonna end soon," she said, sounded barely concerned.

"Girl, I'm telling you all this for your own safety. You'll be lucky to come out of this with minor injuries. Why do you think my mother is paying you ten thousand zeni a day?"

"Listen here young man, what me and your mother discuss is none of your business; nor is my payment!" she snorted angrily.

I stopped before flashing her a sly smile, "Good, you'll need that kind of attitude." With that said I walked ahead to the kitchen with her trailing behind me.

"Here is the area you'll need to be on alert for. We have a few security systems that go off in the middle of the night if one of them decides to make an appearance, but by the time it goes off it is too late. The code is three-one-six-five-zero-zero. Punch that into the keypad over there if you need to fix something late. They don't know the code, but Trunks might be able to break it, he inherited her hacking skills. The alarm will alert me in my room and in yours, hopefully one of us can get down here quick enough to stop them before they break out the sugar," I explained carefully, though it looked to be going in one ear and out the other. "Did you get all of that?" I repeated for her.

"Listen you little punk, I have an unblemished sitting record and I will not have it tarnished on a paranoid family. Just leave everything to me, I know what I'm doing!" Brenda declared. I had seen this before, it wasn't the first time I had crossed paths with the baby sitters. But Mom and Vegeta both asked me to prep them as best I could, even if they didn't pay heed, that way they couldn't sue us for damages.

"Okay, well I've done everything that I can. Nice knowing ya," I said, walking slowly back to the living room. She followed a few minutes later.

"Brenda, I do have one question, do you have any friends that have sat for us before?" I asked over the head of the couch.

"A few I think, my friend Diane said you guys were just angels!"

"Diane, oh you mean no neck? Was she drunk when she told you that?"

Brenda shot me a hard stare, "No, she hasn't come back to school since she's recovering from her accident. Why?"

"Did she say what her accident was?" I asked, giving her a knowing look.

"Yes, she tripped and fell down the stairs at her house, breaking her arm and leg and several vertebrae and had to be hospitalized. I didn't ask her until I visited after I took the job," Brenda kept up her hard stare.

"Ah, Memory loss. Yeah she was pretty shaken when she left here. No doubt it caused a pretty big shock, assuming she was awake for it all. She was right about the stairs part," I said, sighing at the memory.

"What do you mean memory loss?" she asked, sounding concerned now.

"Well if she had told you what really happened, you wouldn't have taken the job. I guarantee it," I said, turning and looking for the remote.

"Look Mr. Difficult, I've run across kids like you before and have handled it every time, my friend Angela said that you were a bit difficult also," Brenda was glaring heat at me now. _Hmmm, Angela must have been the last one with the boyfriend, that's one couple that will probably never go into a haunted house again after what Gotenks did._

"I'm warning you for your own good. I really don't care if you listen or not, and I'd guesstimate you're going to start your difficult night in about five seconds," I said.

"I don't need any warning from some asshole kid who thinks he's better than me, you hear? Why I have the right mind to smack you a good ONE!" She yelled the last part as two blurs had tackled her to the ground from behind.

"Right on time boys, you're getting better at this," I said, clicking a stopwatch I had laid out. Brenda was still eating part of the carpet as the orange blur otherwise known as Goten finally got off her.

"Verto, can we have some cookies, pwueessse!" Goten begged with all his might with the Son puppy eyes of doom.

"Yeah big brother, I want some too, don't you want some?" The blue blur known as Trunks got up and mimicked his orange counterpart. It's funny for him to call me big brother when I was actually a little shorter than he was. I was after all eight years old just like he was, but my brain sure as hell wasn't that young.

"How many times have you asked me?" I said, standing on the couch and leaning over the backside.

"Countless!"

"And how many times have I said yes?"

"None!" They whined.

"Well there you have it, you have answered your own question," I declared before sitting down again. Brenda had picked herself up at this point, making her presence known to the brats.

Goten set about giggling right away, "Look Trunks, another witch!"

"Guess we'll have to take care of her too!" Trunks snickered. I sighed and changed the channel, it was going to be a long four days.


	3. Reinforcements

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 2: Reinforcements**

I was surprised, Brenda managed to withstand the puppy dog eyes longer than most, a full minute longer. Once Goten got to his "I'm a poor starving boy" routine, it was all over.

"Okay kids, I suppose you can have one!" she said happily. _Doh, clueless idiot_.

"Don't you mean one thousand?" I said in a pitiful tone.

"A thousand? Really?" Goten asked as he shook in anticipation. Trunks looked hopeful as well.

"One thousand? What do you want these poor dears sick now, you are a terrible child!" Brenda said, probably out of instinct. _There's phase one already, turning the sitter against the enforcer._

"If only they got sick after that then I would be happy!" I shouted after her as she took the two boys' hands and proceeded down the hall. I didn't want to get up and go after them, but I would have to anyway. I jumped off the couch and slowly walked towards the kitchen, the brats already had a good lead on me. I arrived to see Brenda had made the critical mistake of pulling out the entire package and eating one herself. In a blink of an eye the cookie packages contents were gone, leaving the girl thinking it only had three cookies left in the first place. _Damn._ I walked in to see Goten and Trunks whispering their plan in the corner in a slight huddle.

"Boys! It's time to train!" I shouted at them, Vegeta had taught me how to startle them and make them do what I wanted. I figured she would last longer if I burned them up now.

"But Vertooooo, why now? Our Dad's only have us train during the day, and we already did today!" Trunks whined.

"That was before you had thirty-one cookies a piece, now I need to work that sugar out of you!"

"They didn't eat thirty-one cookies! I only gave them one, plus the one I had makes three!" Brenda decided to back them up.

"Learn to count before you expose the package girl. Let me guess, those taste a little rich don't they? That's because they are the latest brand that Vegeta happens to like when he first wakes up in the morning. I know exactly how many were in there before you opened it because he opened it earlier today and gave me one. Sixty-five come in the pack and he and I both had one. You had one, and they each had just had thirty-one, add it up girl," I scowled before turning to them again.

"Gravity room now!" I shouted and pointed to the hall. They didn't have to wait long before a hand smacked me on the ass, barely missing my wrapped up tail. I didn't yelp, it frankly didn't hurt me like it would her, but did turn with a deathly look in my eye.

"Do you mind keeping your hands off my rear, I tend to have a nasty temper," I asked in a cool voice.

"Now you listen hear young man! I don't know why you and your parents think this is so difficult, you're the only problem! I suggest that you march your fuzzy butt up to bed right now and don't come down for the rest of the night, got it!" she barked, holding her now slightly red hand. _Fuzzy butt is hitting a little to close to home, and Phase 1 is complete already, SHIT!_

I cringed slightly, "Fine, but you really asked for it. I hope you live to regret it!" I snarled at her and marched down the hallway towards the stairs. I climbed them slowly to the tune of laughter coming from all three, but ignored it and retreated to my room. I headed for my nightstand and kicked on my music player, a gift from Future Trunks. He had downloaded all the songs off my old computer to it and brought it here to me from my timeline. He was supposed to give it too me when I first got to this world, but having to send me ahead in his time machine to keep me away from Frieza kind of fouled things up. It was a good thing to have on nights like this. I turned on the most raging music I could think of at the time, Korn. I hopped on my overly large bed and kicked back, waiting for the screaming to start even though the music was too loud to hear it.

"Wow, tough girl," I muttered while the song "Dead bodies everywhere" played on. It was the fifteenth song I had played and still no sign of the demon disasters yet, but I knew it wouldn't be long, it never was. On cue the door swung open to reveal an almost nerve stricken girl with half pink hair and half blue, only it was a messy swirl. I turned down my music and stared her down. She shook a little bit before coming in and sitting beside me on my bed.

"Look, sweetie, I didn't mean what I said earlier. You can come out now, in fact, I beg you to come out now!" Brenda said in a shaky voice. That's when I noticed some of her clothes were torn, and melted in spots. Not to mention all the small cuts that were visible all over her.

"Cops and robbers eh?" I asked.

She looked shocked, "How did you know?"

I smirked and shifted slightly, "They like to shoot the robbers."

"Sorry I didn't listen to you. Just look at me, they dyed my hair pink AND blue. What the hell are those monsters?"

"Half Saiyan," I answered without thinking.

"Half what?"

"Forget that, what are they doing now?" I asked cautiously.

"Sleeping in the room across the hall, oh what will I do now?" she wailed, pulling at her hair.

"Well I'll give you credit, you lasted two hours so far, not too many last past that. We've got some hair dye in the bathroom. Just apply it after a good shower and it'll be just like new in the morning," I said, showing her the stuff in the cabinet.

"How do those boys lift things like paper, they were throwing around a recliner for goodness sakes!"

"Details too complicated to know. Let's just say all that sugar didn't help your case," I hushed her and left hastily. I shut off the music and headed downstairs, knowing I'd need to stand guard for a little bit. Parking in the living room, I assumed a meditative state that Piccolo had taught me to use when I needed to be aware of my surroundings while under suspended animation, so that I could wake up in an instant. A few minutes later I felt the ki shift in the house slightly, meaning someone was up. I fully expected this however, and awaited the owner. Over about ten minutes I listened to the air until reaching out and catching the arm that was waving in my face.

"I'm not asleep yet," I growled at Trunks without opening my eyes.

"How do you do that?" he asked, "I was fully masking my ki!"

"You're too predictable, and you're not that good at it yet. You always try and sneak food a few minutes after you supposedly go to sleep. Vegeta does the same thing, why do you think you can never pull it off when he's around?"

"So that's why, was always wondering why Dad was up that late?" Trunks shook his head and left the room. _Heh, its not the only reason. _I quickly put that thought aside. When he and Mom were up late, I never could get any decent sleep and often left the house for a night time flight.

"WRONG WAY BRAT!" I yelled after him, causing a quick change in direction. While just as physically young as Trunks, maybe younger, my mind was a full twenty-two years of age, making me able to use it fully even as a child. This proved useful in battle several times when the opponents underestimated me severely, and very useful when it came to watching the boys. I had learned to mimic Vegeta's hard attitude pretty well, and implemented his undoubtedly scary tactics. I heard running water shortly after Trunks left the room, _oh boy._ Brenda had turned the shower on before Trunks had gone back to bed, big mistake. Sure enough there was a scream right in tune with a snicker of laughter. But she stopped screaming soon, apparently putting up with the cold water.

Ten minutes later, Goten decided he needed to take a stab at the kitchen. I waited in the dark hallway, masking my ki so low that he would only sense the air. It worked to, sure enough a dark figure with little ki coming from it was creeping down. I blended into the walls and walked towards the kitchen without a sound, getting a good lead on him and waiting at the doorway. He took a bit longer, stopping and checking behind him a lot in the black hallway. When he finally got to the door, I was almost smirking at his attempt as I leaned against the wall.

"Oh shoot, what did Trunks say that code was?" he whispered to the air, giving me the go ahead.

"What code?" I asked loudly while sparking a ki ball, adding to the startle effect.

"Aw, darn it Verto. Why do you sneak up on me like Mr. Vegeta does?"

"I'm preventing a disaster before is starts, go back to bed!" I ordered. He held his head low and whimpered slightly as I followed him back.

"You don't have to be so mean!" he dared speak.

"You'll have to try harder then that kid!" I snarled at him. He reached the stairs and gave me one last sad look before going up, almost crying all the way. Little activity followed, except for the sounds of Brenda bitching about her hair color.

-

I went back to the living room and resumed meditation**.** I didn't figure I'd get much sleep tonight so meditation would make up for some of it. Brenda finally got done and came back in, fussing with her once again brown hair. I opened one eye and saw that she had at least three or four band-aids on each arm, and probably on each leg as well. It was rather obvious that she still hadn't completely warmed up either.

"Maybe you shouldn't wear such a thin shirt, the boys might be frightened by anything that pokes out," I suggested.

"Why, you little pervert!" Brenda exclaimed as she covered herself.

I merely shrugged, "Sorry, but it was a little obvious."

"Well at least they're sleeping now," she muttered, examining her torn clothes she had changed out of.

"What's the clock say?" I asked without looking myself.

"Nine-fifty, why?"

"We're not out of the woods yet," I said, stiffening up a little bit as she sat down next to me. I never was one to get close to anyone strange, no matter what age, the fact that I was now a Saiyan increased that little issue.

"Hey, I thought I'd better let you know. Miss Bulma said it was okay if I wanted to invite my boyfriend over and use the hot tub over by the kitchen. He'll be here soon," she said, a little calmer.

"Does he have life insurance?" I asked.

"Hey, they're not that horrible, just a bit rowdy for me that's all!"

"We haven't even started yet," I said, getting up and waiting patiently. _Phase two should be coming around the corner any second. _Almost at Ten o'clock sharp the two energy sources could be easily detected and making they're way down toward us.

"Miss Brenda, were really sorry, can we pwuese have a glass of water before we sleep?" Goten shot his best at her. And typical of the sitters, she gave in.

"Yeah we're really sorry, we we're just nervous of you!" Trunks backed up his buddy, no doubt crossing fingers in the back of his head.

Brenda sighed, "Oh okay, I suppose since you said you were sorry," she got up and took their hands down to the kitchen. _Airhead_. They came back a few minutes later, each holding a small glass with water in them. Trunks handed me one, which I took in my hands, but didn't drink right away. I allowed my eyes to narrow, getting a good look at his two eyes, which were definitely hiding something.

"We figured we'd get you one to big brother!" Trunks played innocent. I wasn't buying it and took a good sniff of the glass, and I caught a whiff of something other than water.

"Yes, they wanted to say sorry to you too kido," Brenda added, completely under their spell.

"Nice try Trunks, but the drugging trick isn't going to work again," I said, heating the glass with my ki, boiling the water into nothing. Trunks was struggling not to attack me on the spot, but kept playing innocent along with Goten.

"Why would Trunks do such a thing?" Brenda asked.

"Isn't that obvious, put me to sleep and they run wild tonight, they've done it before," I explained.

"I think you're just jealous that Trunks is a good boy and you're not!" Brenda said, ensuring my belief.

"Like I care if I'm seen as a good boy or not. Suit yourself though, but I suggest you don't let them pour your water," I said, walking out of the room and towards the lobby. _Phase two is done, the initial apology followed by the drug attempt. The boyfriend should be here any second._

A few seconds later the doorbell rang. _Funny how I could just smell that one coming._ I decided to answer it just to be sure he didn't fall apart on the first step. I opened the door to see a tall and slightly built blond guy standing there in a tank top and jeans. And as if Dende was having fun tonight, I recognized him as well.

"Hi, is Brenda here? I heard she was babysitting for a few, DAYS!" the blond asked before having a heart attack when he saw me.

I shook my head in dismay, "Why Sharpner, I didn't know you cared." _Great, what else could go wrong tonight?_

"What, what the hell are you doing here?"

"I live here moron, did you forget that already? You know the brain is the most powerful muscle in the body. Yours sure doesn't get much exercise does it?" I sneered at him.

"Ugh, no wonder I've heard rumors about this place," Sharpner muttered as I let him in.

"Hold on a sec, do you have a football helmet in your car, or some kind of armored protection?" I asked.

"No, why? That's my sports car, I'm not gonna haul my stuff in there!" He pointed as a very sweet looking red car parked outside. _That car is gonna have a bad night if he sticks around, but then I suppose a few hits in the head would be good for Sharpner._

"So who are we sitting?" he asked as if interested.

"Technically it is me, my brother Trunks and his friend Goten, but it's those two you need to watch out for. If you didn't know, Goten is Gohan's hyperactive little brother, you'll see soon why he didn't bring him to school that one day," I explained.

"Awe that's okay, I'm good with kids. Brenda, I'm here!" he yelled the last part, wondering around aimlessly.

"She's that way," I pointed, following him. We came to the living room where everyone had finished their water glasses. Brenda perked up and jumped into the jock's arms.

"Sharpie! Hey they got a hot tub here, wanna go for a dip?" Trunks and Goten looked disgusted now, mostly when the two lovebirds started playing tonsil hockey. I probably didn't help that case either, I had been all scowls for the evening.

"Sure babe, hey you kids should be getting to bed right?" Sharpner asked. Trunks grunted slightly, Goten looked confused, and I merely resumed my place on the couch.

"Yeah, so just go on up to bed now, we have things to do!" Brenda said in a daze. Sharpner walked out and down towards the sauna area, Trunks came over to me.

"You can't expect us to put up with that do ya?" he asked.

"There's one guy you can get rid of. Tell you what, his car is parked outside, the red one, give him the works!" I said, grinning inside and out. Trunks' eyes shot open like a birthday had just swung by.

"C'mon Goten, Verto gave us an order!" Even though they tended to be the source of my stress, I really didn't want Sharpner around here.

"Hey guys, no fatal injuries, just humiliation!" I called back to them. Figuring this would be a good time, I decided to take a little nap for real this time. I had just given the twin terrors the go ahead anyway.

**-**

I woke up an hour or so later, and jumped off the couch to witness the chaos. I searched out everyone in the house, finding everyone around the hot tub area. I wondered down there and found the boys in the control room for the hot tub and sauna, an invisible window shown over the tub.

"Shhh, Goten, I'm trying to adjust the temperature," Trunks was saying.

"So little demons, what did you cook up?" I asked, having to chuckle a bit at the phrase I just used.

"We don't know what to do, just raising it higher will make them just get out and won't be any fun!" Trunks whined.

"I have an idea, has Sharpner gotten out to get drinks yet?"

"No, I overheard something about Champaign, but they haven't gotten any yet."

"When he does get out, go in there instantly and ask Brenda for some help with something, I don't care what it is. Then when she gets out, crank the temperature. When Sharpner jumps back in he'll get a surprise," I suggested, almost as the jock was starting to climb out. _I can't believe I'm helping them out._

"All right, there he goes to, good call bro!" Trunks said, rushing at the door to get Brenda out. I turned the knob on the control up to about one hundred seventy degrees from where it was at ninety.

"This will give him something to think about," I said, laughing evilly. Sharpner was gone for a few minutes, I sensed Trunks take Brenda upstairs. Sharpner came back looking for his date, only to find she wasn't present. Unfortunately he didn't jump right back in, only he went over to the mirror and started admiring himself.

"C'mon you idiot, just jump in!" I rasped loudly, prompting Goten to put a finger to his lips. Trunks and Brenda came back down, Brenda first as she reappeared in the sauna.

"Oh this could be good," I said, looking up hopefully. Instead the couple engaged in a lip lock and then some grabbing motions, ones that I really didn't want to see no matter how attractive Brenda actually was.

"Gross!" Trunks shouted.

"No joke, what all did you guys set up anyway?" I asked as I turned away.

"We trashed his car, dug a hole in the ground right in front of it and filled it with red paint!" Trunks said.

I raised my eyebrows slightly, "Impressive, that'll be a good show."

"YEOW!" we heard a loud scream. We jumped up to see Sharpner jumping around and holding his rear mostly, but his legs were no doubt hot to, not to mention his other lower area. I was suddenly thankful that he was wearing swimwear. He wasted no time in running out into the halls and towards the door. I heard a crash of thunder outside, the whole reason he was going out, for the cool rain. Brenda followed him, giving us the chance to go out unnoticed.

"Hmmm, hey Trunks, get ready to come back here and guide Sharpner in. I have a gut feeling about this one," I ordered. We all rushed to the front lobby, where the jock had just gotten a good glimpse at his car.

"Oh no, someone has dumped yellow paint on my car! And wrecked it!" Sharpner declared, running out into the rain. He got to about ten feet away from the car when he kept ranting.

"Man, now I gotta get a new paintjob!" He didn't step two feet more before he slipped through the ground and made a nice red splash. He jumped back out right away, but he was covered in red paint.

"Ask and you shall receive," I said loudly, despite a glaring Brenda. Sharpner had lost it now, and ran back inside.

"No, my hunky body is ruined, give me a bath! Give me a bath to wash this off!"

"There's a bath down this way!" Trunks said and pointed as he raced ahead to hold the door for the blond idiot. I ran down just in time to hear another yelp of burning pain and the idiot run back down the halls, cleaned off but covered in steaming water.

"Forget this babe, you're on your own!" he shouted as he ran out the door.

"Mission, complete!" Goten and Trunks stood at attention and gave me a salute.

"Dismissed," I said out of instinct as we all started laughing. Brenda came stomping down the hallway shortly after she shut the front door, both eyes glued on us.

"Okay, all three of you up to bed right now!" she screamed. The boys looked a little down, but headed up anyway, no doubt in my mind that they were going to bed for real this time. I walked slowly to the stairs while I chuckled, satisfied to be rid of the jock. Before any of us got to the stairs however, a hand reached forward and grabbed me by the tail. Since it was still wrapped around my waist, the owner of the hand obviously thought it was a belt. Brenda held me about a foot or two in the air with one arm, not a real surprise for an average human, I was pretty light. However I didn't let anyone grab my tail, especially not strange people.

"Let go of me right now," I started with a standard threat tone.

"Not until you say you're sorry to me! I know you're the one who trashed his car, and I fully intend to make your mother pay for it! Now say your sorry!" she demanded. Trunks and Goten watched with grins on their faces, probably glad I was getting the blame for it. She squeezed tightly on my tail, causing me to yelp in pain.

"And while you're at it, allow me to get this stupid looking fur belt off of you. Probably skinned a poor little doggy didn't you?" she said, pulling on my tail more now. _Dog belt? _ I didn't elaborate on the suggestion though. The pain was nasty, almost paralyzing, and now I didn't care what the twin terrors did to her. There seemed to be strange bump on her hands that was digging right in, like she had a knot in her palm or something. I looked up and saw Trunks and Goten had stopped smiling and were walking towards her now.

"Miss Brenda, let go right now! Otherwise we won't be responsible for what happens," Trunks said, imitating his father very well.

"Not until he's sorry, it's obvious he doesn't get much discipline around here, well it's time for him to get some!" she said, giving my rear a few whacks. That didn't bother me as much as the tail grabbing, she was just hurting her own hand. I was edging on furious now, and angry thoughts gave way to ki increase in a big hurry. I looked up at Trunks and gave him a slight nod in her direction. An instant later Brenda was out cold on the ground, her limp hands let go of my tail easily.

"Damn that hurt!" I said, holding my tail to see a slight red hue under the fur. I noticed that I felt slightly drained as well. Granted holding back my power when I'm mad is not easy, _but I shouldn't be drained from it this much._

"Wow, what a witch! You sure we can't just off her right now?" Trunks asked me. _Well I was the one supposed to protect her from all of this_.

"Nah, just take her up to bed, waking up in the guest bed will convince her it was just a dream. The robots can take care of the red mess around here as well as the hole in the ground," I ordered, Goten hoisted her up and took Brenda to her room.

"I thought you were gonna lose it for a minute there," Trunks said, holding my tail limply and checking it over.

I yanked it back quickly, "I almost did, go to bed now. We train in the morning after breakfast," I said, heading my own room. I couldn't go to bed just yet, my tail hurt too much to sleep, so I laid awake and listened for possible sounds of the boys up for sugar. They obeyed this time and went to sleep themselves, giving me the go ahead.

**-**

I woke up the next morning with the still slightly sore tail. I sensed that Brenda was still in the guestroom where Goten put her. _She probably just lost it after that Sharpner incident, suppose I can't blame her there. I'll make like nothing happened, no need to start anything up again._ I headed downstairs to find the boys scarfing away at a breakfast the robots were still bringing to the table.

"Hi Verto! We saved ya some!" Goten pointed to some food that had been piled on my plate.

"How thoughtful," I muttered, grabbing a seat and began gobbling. Just as I gulped down a large bowl of soup, I saw Trunks and Goten grinning evilly. When I looked again the grins were gone. Just as I pondered the significance of that, Brenda made her way in, holding her head.

"Man what a headache, when did I pass out anyway guys? I don't remember," she moaned.

"Right after Sharpner left you went upstairs saying you had a headache. I told you to take some meds but you went straight to bed," I said quickly in between bites.

"Good lord, how much food do you boys need?" Brenda was now wide eyed. I finished up quickly and went back to dress in my training gi. On the way I noticed my head felt a little funny, but didn't really pay any heed to it. I walked down to the living room and plopped down on the couch, waiting for the boys to hurry up and eat. They ate a little slower today, but I didn't pay any heed, soon they finished as well and went to dress. My head started to spin a little bit, and I felt dizzy. _What the hell?_

"Hey bro, what's the training plan today?" Trunks asked as he came in.

"We'll start at seventy-five and work our way up to two hundred time gravity. That'll be a good run, throw in a few sparring contests," I said, getting off the couch slowly. My head was spinning a lot more now, and my eyelids started to droop.

"Oh, can we do a fusion this time?" Goten asked. I didn't answer, instead my body quit responding and I dropped to the floor.

"Look at that Goten, ten minutes puts you to sleep guaranteed. Good thing we gave him a few doses!" Trunks snickered along with his counterpart.

"Why you little bastards.." I whispered as blackness overcame me.

**-**

A hand tapped me face slightly. _Trunks? No, too soft. Goten? No, too careful. The babysitter? No, too clueless. Why is the room spinning so much?_

"Verto, wake up!" A girl's voice said. I struggled to find my eyes, she repeated herself. I opened slowly to see a very familiar girl above me, and then I realized I was on the ground.

"Hey, there you are cutie, about time you came around. Looks like you were right Gohan, they had to have drugged him!" Videl said, pulling away to a sitting position.

"Huh?" was all I could ask as I tried to get up.

"Your head still isn't clear yet, give it a minute," Videl ordered, pressing a hand to my chest to hold me down.

"What happened?" I asked.

"The little twerps drugged you and then drove the babysitter mad. We came over to check on you guys and arrived just when she ran out the door in panic. Her clothes were all ruined, her body bloody, and a load full of other things happened," Gohan explained, holding up the two culprits by the scruff of their training gi's.

"Hey, we were just doing what shoulda been done! Babysitters should be illegal!" Trunks argued, chuckling.

"Yeah, plus she was mean and squeezed Verto's tail! Really hard too, we heard him crying!" Goten backed him up, but seemed to be holding laughter back.

"Is that true?" Videl asked.

"She lost it last night after we drove Sharpner out of the house. She grabbed it and squeezed a bit too hard thinking it was a belt and even threatened to remove it. I wasn't crying, fuming would be the correct word," I said, my head clearing up a bit more. _Damn what time is it?_ I looked over to see nearly five in the afternoon on the clock, and a fresh smoking hole in the wall. I checked my tail over as I sat up, it was still a bit red but not like it was, didn't hurt now at all.

"Gohan do me a favor?" I asked.

"Sure kid, what?" he asked.

"Wear them out," I said, getting an immediate approval as Gohan left with the two kids in his arms and straight to the gravity room.

"So what all happened around here, I wasn't exactly aware of it," I said as Videl helped me up, not that I needed it.

"I think that's the only hole in the walls, but I don't know for sure. The floors in the hallway are slightly cracked from some impacts. There are a lot of empty packages of cookies and soda bottles on the kitchen floor, that's not a good sign. We found her car, or what was left of it in the backyard, they took apart the engine, and I do mean the whole thing, it's scattered around with fluids in the grass. Her clothes were all torn apart, and she was hobbling a bit on the way out, stuttering about a blond kid with long hair and no eyebrows," Videl gave me a slight smile as she racked up the damage.

"Good thing Dr. Briefs kept up this older building for mostly the family and that this was a weekend, otherwise I'm sure Mom would have a few missing employees."

"I wasn't done, they did run amuck outside too. They turned some stoplights upside down and twisted around some of the lights, mostly switching the timers between green and yellow. That was one of the more entertaining traffic jams I've ever seen," Videl giggled a bit.

"Ugh, I could just about kill them," I muttered.

"But then you wouldn't have anyone to play with!" Videl elbowed my shoulder.

"Anything else?" I asked, holding my head.

"Yeah, strange though, I thought I saw a piece of metal sticking out of the side of her head, any ideas?"

"Sounds like Trunks was trying to make a human antenna again. Argh, my head is still spinning," I moaned and sat down on the couch.

"Gohan found several empty packages of super sleep pills over by the soup bowls, he said it may take awhile to wear off," she said, jumping onto the couch next to me.

"Considering what happened, you're certainly in a lively mood," I noticed.

"I just enjoy seeing you in agony, you're so cute when you're moaning and groaning, just like Gohan is!"

I slapped my head slightly, "Right, well I better go find that replacement babysitter list."

"It wasn't that piece of paper on the fridge was it?"

"Yeah it was why?"

"They fried that too, now it's just burnt and unreadable." I hit my head against the sofa in mental agony, _SHIT!_

"Well, I'll make you a deal then Verto, I will step in and help you watch the runts," Videl declared.

I instantly jumped up as if the drugs had done nothing, "You will?"

"Yeah sure, I can handle those little brats!"

"Oh thank you Videl!" I jumped up and hugged her.

"But! You have to do something for me," she shook her finger.

"ANYTHING!"

"Anything, you're sure?"

I thought that one back over, "Okay, ALMOST anything, what's your price?"

"You have to go out on a date with me," she said calmly like she planned it out.

"What?" I stared blankly.

"Do I have to repeat it?"

"But you're Gohan's girl. I'm not going to do that, he's my best friend!" I argued.

"Hey, I thought I was your best friend! Oh now I'm hurt. Me and Gohan aren't 18 yet, and we both agreed we wouldn't do anything steady until then. So I'm free, it's not like a real date anyway right, you're too young right? Heh, and you could always watch the runts yourself..." she said, though she already had me hooked and nearly whipped. But then that was my fault, the day after we beat Buu she managed to learn about my past as an adult and had looking at me in a different way ever since.

"Oh, fine, when?" I looked down; my brain betrayed me in desperation.

"Oh it doesn't need to be anytime really soon, I'll let you know!" She giggled again, an at once nearly forcing habit for her.

"This has bad idea written all over it," I said, crossing my arms and dropping to a seat again.

"What's a bad idea?" Gohan's voice came from behind me.

"Nothing!" I snapped out, realizing I hadn't been paying attention to ki levels lately.

"Oh he's just flustered cause I hooked him into having dinner with me sometime!" she said. _I've been betrayed already,_ I wanted to cry.

"What's wrong with that Verto?" he asked.

"Nothing!" I snapped again.

"I think the drugs are still flowing in there kid, if the monsters hadn't done it I would swear you were an addict!" Gohan laughed at my dismay.

"I thought you were training them?"

"I don't have any workout clothes here right now. So I need to go home and get some. Say Videl, would you mind watching them while I'm gone?"

"Actually Gohan, I already agreed to watch them for the rest of the time Bulma and Vegeta are gone. Since it's a weekend I won't miss any school. Could you go to my place and ask Hilda to pack some clothes for me, and extra ones too," She winked at me as Gohan left the room.

"You're evil," I said.

"You take that back! I'm not evil, I'm sweet and strong!"

"I beg your pardon, Evilly Sweet and Strong," I chuckled.

"Just for that buster, I'm gonna make sure to humiliate you at every chance!"

"Bring it on girl!" I dared.

"Well, I'll I have to do then is tell you to go look in a mirror, there is something we didn't mention," she put on an innocent face.

I narrowed my eyes, "What is it?"

"Just look in the mirror." I got up and walked towards the sauna room, seeing several doors with holes in them. I reached it and headed over to the mirror before stopping and staring. My hair had been dyed pink, and considering they had a still target, they did a very good job, not an ounce of black remained. My breath came out short as a fire lit in my eyes, and Videl backed up when the ki lightning started around my legs. I walked out before allowing my fury to completely overcome me. I stood in the hall, which had been coated deathly silent now.

"BRATS!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. At once two blurs went by and cowered behind Videl, who had been struggling to hold laughter.

"Uh oh Trunks, he doesn't look too happy!" Goten pointed out the obvious as I bared my teeth at them.

"No kidding Goten! Looks like he's ready to explode!"

"I'm going to take my time tearing you to pieces!" I snarled. I wanted so badly to rip them into shreds, but Videl's warning face managed to hold my temper down to an eruption. _Wait a sec; I have a solution to this!_ I calmed myself but allowed my ki level to keep rising.

"I have an answer to this one boys," I cackled. Instantly I shot up into Super Saiyan, turning my hair gold, catching a gasp of fear from them. I literally felt the ki burning the hair dye off within a few seconds. I waited a few seconds, then powered down, dropping the extra power back into the depths.

"Dude! He turned it back to normal!" Trunks gasped.

"Awe, I wanted to see a Super Saiyan with pink hair!" Goten whined.

"Too bad you won't get the chance," I laughed and admired their now angry faces. Angry that part of their plan backfired.

"Hey Trunks, let's just get him in the tail again next time," Goten suggested a little to loudly.

My grin vanished, "Don't even think about it, I'll kill you both!"

"Okay kids, enough bickering! I'm going to have the robots fix dinner now, so get your bony butts upstairs and cleaned up on the double!" Videl drilled out orders. To my great surprise, Trunks and Goten complied, without retaliation. My jaw was still touching the floor when Videl cleared her throat and gave me a death glare.

"Oh right," I whispered, jetting upstairs in a hurry.

**Interlude 2.1**

"Yay, Auntie Videl is watching us!" Goten jumped up and down on the living room furniture. Videl had just bathed them both and told them to wait there while dinner was cooking.

"The question is Goten, how do we get rid of her without making Gohan mad at us?"

The answer came to both of them pretty quickly, "Blame it on Verto!" they both stated at once.

"But Trunks, Videl and Gohan like him a lot. How can we make them not like him no more?" Goten asked.

"Darn, I don't know other than the usual stuff, maybe this one is case where we have to (gulp), put up with her. I mean we can try to drive her out, but then Gohan will throw us in the gravity room, and sometimes he's worse than Dad!"

"Too bad that Brenda girl isn't here, she was easy to get rid of, a bit scary, but easy!" Goten whined.

"That's it Goten, we drag her back and Verto will fry her. Then he's in trouble for sure, oh you're a genius Goten!"

"Huh, but how? Verto never kills anyone, your daddy does! How are you going to get Verto to do it?"

"Just follow my lead okay, I have a plan. I just hope we can find her again. I think Mom has her phone number somewhere," Trunks said, sneaking out and down the halls towards the phone. Goten followed, wondering at first why not just look for her, but that hadn't worked earlier.

"Hey Trunks, why can't we feel her energy?"

-

I relaxed in the bathtub in the rather pleasant warm water. The tub had been full of random toys the boys had left behind, but Saiyan speed blessed me with the quick second to remove them all without breaking a sweat. I had especially drenched my tail in the water, seeing it needed some soothing after that bitch Brenda had squeezed it rather hard. It had been hurt more than this before, but not many times. The only time it hurt the most was during the fights with Buu, when I was forced to ignore it. Just as I was dunking my head in the water, the door opened. I looked around the corner, shooting an annoyed look at whoever had entered.

"Do you mind? Just because I'm younger doesn't mean I don't like my privacy," I growled.

"Well, you do need cleaned up!" Videl sighed at my stare.

"I can bathe myself," I said.

"Oh hush, let me pamper you while I can, I guarantee you're going to get it until at least age ten. You let Bulma do it after all!"

"That's because she'll have Vegeta beat the shit out of me first if I don't, then she'll do it anyway," I explained as she walked over and stood over the tub.

"And what makes you think I won't have Gohan beat you senseless?" she dared.

"I can communicate telepathically with Gohan at any time, what shouldn't I tell him?"

"Oh you little rat, how do you know how to do that?" Videl asked sternly while reaching for the shampoo. _Well, I guess I can put up with her._

"A certain Namekian teacher that helped train me as well," I said, figuring she would understand the rest. She dumped some suds into my hair and started scrubbing.

"So Piccolo taught you both how to do that, you guys use this often?"

"No, usually only in battle, we haven't used it since the Buu fights if you must know," I said, bending my head slightly for her. She grabbed a plastic glass and filled it with water, then dumped it over my head to rinse.

"Out of all your Saiyan hairstyles, yours is just about the weirdest to figure out. It is neat how it flows into itself and to the other side without gel. Goku's and Goten's are the wildest though. I had a hell of a time getting a tangle out the little squirt's head!" She loaded up her hands with soap and scrubbed on my shoulders back and chest next.

"I hope you realize what you're getting into with watching the rats, it won't be pretty as you saw earlier. Sure they're nice now, but it always starts that way, and they try to turn you against the enforcer, that being me. Then it gets bad," I explained, closing my eyes when she ran soap onto my face.

"Ah, I can handle it. If not I can count on you for support right?" She asked right as she held my shoulders firmly.

"Right," I said in a pitiful tone.

"Okay, now for the tail," She reached down and grabbed it.

"Don't do what you did last time," I said, bending forward slightly.

"Now would I do that?"

"Yes!"

"But you said it felt good, I'm only here to make you feel good," she cooed slightly at the end.

"It felt too good, and probably would get me killed by Gohan or Vegeta if _someone_ were to do that when I'm older. If you catch my drift," I muttered as she soaked it down and scrubbed it very gently.

"Sounds like a plan if things don't work out between me and Gohan," She giggled again.

I winced at that, "You're cruel."

"I know, you know I never thought that someone like you and Gohan could show me how I can be the nice and loving person again. Too bad you're probably the only two guys that will know about it," Videl admitted. _That explains where the hardcore Videl ran off to._ She finished scrubbing my tail and set it back into the water to rinse.

"Okay, stand up so I can do the rest," she said with a cheerful tone in her voice.

"I'd rather do it myself," I said, slightly embarrassed at the whole situation.

"Except I know you really won't. Your just a kid, I'm not expecting anything in particular," she snickered slightly. I stood up, closed my eyes and crossed the arms, then spun around. She got to work, not saying a word thankfully, then turned me around again and did the rear.

"See, that wasn't that bad was it?" _Hard to tell, my cheeks are still red_.

"Thank Dende I'm still a kid," I whispered, hoping he actually heard me so he would stop the cruelty.

"_Hey Verto, she did that herself. I can't twist everyone's arm you know, just the weakest humans. And Gohan would kill me if I messed with her mind anyway, I can't even touch Mr. Satan," _came Dende's voice.

"_Well at least your being honest about it today. Thanks anyway,"_ I replied. She grabbed a towel and dried me off before I could react.

"Man, it's gonna take awhile to get this water out of your hair and tail," She said as she was rubbing the hair furiously.

"Want me to show you a trick to do that?" I offered.

"What?" I took the towel from here and wrapped it around my waist and then powered up slightly, causing a breeze to go off in the room. This heated up my skin enough to dry the water and evaporate it, even in my tail. My hair shifted back to it's normal state when dry, sticking up on one side and bending over and down the other side, two thick bangs in my face on the downward side.

"That is handy, wish Gohan would teach me that," she pouted.

"You would need to build up your ki some more, but it wouldn't take much, about as difficult as shooting a weak ki ball," I said, suddenly realizing that she was going to ask me to train her.

But she didn't, instead she drew back her hand, "Like this?" Then she shot a weak ki ball that hit me square in the chest. The ball didn't do anything except a small blemish that I rubbed off easily; it was the shock that she could throw one.

"I've been doing a little training myself, and I figured that out on my own. Still haven't figured out how to powerup yet," she said, sending me a smirk.

"That's easy, just spread your ki out all over and use it to strengthen your body. It's no problem," I said, opening the door and going across the hall to my room.

"Dinner should be ready in a few minutes, hurry up before the little rats eat it all," she called over her shoulder. _Damn, that was a little embarrassing, but maybe I should just open up a little more. It's just Videl, she's like a big sister to me anyway, not like I'm an adult right now. I sure am thinking like one though._ I slipped on a t-shirt and training pants before heading downstairs.


	4. More Trouble

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 3: More Trouble**

Dinner was a quiet occurrence, but I didn't expect any talking anyway. We three Saiyans hardly talked during meals anyway, unless it was a request for more food. Videl slowly ate her plateful, though in comparison it was a small appetizer. The phone rang once, it being Gohan checking up on the evening. He didn't come back until just as we finished dinner, fresh load of training clothes for his supply and a suitcase capsule for Videl. Then he left, saying that he had to study.

"_I don't buy that for a minute, you don't want to be around here when the fireworks begin, do you?"_ I thought at him. He gave me a knowing smirk and took off from the front step. Trunks kept looking at the clock for some reason. The doorbell rang about five minutes after Gohan left. Trunks jumped up to get it, as did Goten.

"We better get in there before they drag the poor sap in here," Videl said, motioning for me to join her. We arrived to see Trunks opening the door to a salesman in a tidy business suit. Trunks obviously didn't expect this, and tried to slam the door shut but like any good salesman, he put his foot to the door before he could slam it. I wasn't sure how he pulled that off since his eyes were closed, but he did.

"Is Mrs. Bulma Briefs or Mr. Vegeta Briefs here right now? I have a great new product for them to try. Fresh from the Trojan man factory, _Trojan MAN!_" he said, adjusting his voice to a deeper tone. I paled at the sight, as did Videl and Trunks. Goten of course didn't get it.

"You young men, remember if you must, use protection!" He handed Trunks a small plastic pack, then he tossed me a pack, then Videl a pack.

"Maybe you should open your eyes idiot!" I growled.

"And young lady, here's one for her pleasure, now have a good night of fun!" He said cheerfully. I don't know who ended up madder, Videl, or me, but we both tossed them back.

"Man you are so gross!" Trunks said. Shortly after he said that, there was an explosion. Then all that was left was a pair of smoking shoes and three melted plastic wrappings.

"Now Trunks, what did your father tell you about blowing up salesmen?" I scolded.

He smirked in tune with me, "Not in front of Mom."

"That's right, good job!"

"Why was that guy here?" Videl sputtered out finally.

"They show up every time Mom and Vegeta, well you know, they must be busy on that vacation," I smiled slightly.

Trunks held his nose, "Please no more, I can't take it!" Goten still looked confused, but we hadn't said anything to trigger his endless stream of questions yet. Outside a thunderstorm had started up reminiscent of last night, and Trunks closed the door just as it began. The lobby remained quiet as the robots skidded in to scoop up the fresh ash remains of the Trojan Man.

"Hey Trunks, isn't it time for our favorite show?" Goten asked.

"Hey, yeah it is!" _Oh no, not that, anything but that._

They looked at each other in excitement, "POKEMON!" There was a cloud of dust floating around a second later as the two vanished.

"Ugh, well at least they'll stay out of trouble," I muttered.

"You don't like that show?" she asked, confused a bit.

"Had it on my world too," I said shortly.

"No way, the exact same show?"

"Yep, same yellow and black striped rat named Poopachu," I shook my head slightly.

"Thought his name was Pikachu?"

"It is, I call it Poopachu, and I hate it either way. If I ever see a real live rat like that I will blast it on site!" I claimed. More thunder sounded outside, lightning brightly coming through the windows.

"Wow, sure is storming pretty good out there," Videl noticed. I nodded, but didn't say anything, the air felt mysterious. A loud clap of thunder hit again, and the power went out.

"DAMNIT!" I heard Trunks yell. _Justice is served again._

"It'll be back on in a few seconds, takes a minute for the backup generators to kick on," I explained, grabbing a seat on the lobby sofa. More thunder hit, just as something pounded on the door.

Videl glanced at me as I shrugged, "Maybe it's the backup Trojan guy." She walked over and opened it. In stepped a tall brunette about Videl's height, with slender arms and legs that had band-aids on them. The figure's hands bore dark gloves like a biker's. The power turned back on and the lights shown on Brenda's face, slightly cut up but not bad.

"Well look who's back," I said, grinning slightly. She sent an initial glare in my direction, but cleared up in an instant.

"Hey, can I come back? I kind of overreacted when those two tore into the sugar and ran off when they destroyed my car and my clothes," She practically begged.

"Fine by me, if you really want to. But allow me to introduce you to your backup, Videl," I pointed out.

Brenda looked over and face faulted, "You're Videl Satan, daughter of the world champion!"

Videl rolled her eyes, "Yeah I am, and you are?"

"I'm, um, Brenda, their babysitter," she mumbled while playing with her fingers nervously.

"Well Brenda, as you no doubt saw, those two are a handful," Videl beamed at her.

"Yeah, I thought he was just being difficult because of the paranoid parents," she pointed at me. The air around me shifted, catching my attention away from the conversation.

"Well, he's a handful too, but a cute handful!" Videl giggled. I rolled my eyes this time, but then searched the air as to what the disturbance was. Brenda shifted a little bit, I caught the movement in the air, but I couldn't seem to sense any ki coming off her. _Drugs must still be screwing me up._ Just in case, I turned to Videl, who was in the process of embarrassing me again by playing with my spiky hair. I picked up on Videl's higher human ki pretty quick, but nothing came from Brenda, as if she wasn't even there. _Well she is pretty weak._ Brenda seemed tuned out to Videl's attempts of embarrassment.

"I'm going to go check on the troublemakers then, I assume they're in the living room?" she asked.

"Yeah, in there watching their favorite show, watch out for flying objects!" Videl called out to her. Videl turned and sat right next to me, but didn't say anything. She kept a grim gaze towards the ground.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Did she seem a little bit, strange to you?" she asked back.

"Come to think of it, yes, how could you tell?"

"I've been able to read people's eyes and movements for a long time. Gohan just taught me how to sense energy like you guys can. I'm not very good at it, but I can still pick things up when I try. I didn't get anything from her, was like there was just a void of air there," Videl explained.

"Oh good, and here I thought the drugs were still affecting me!" I laughed, scratching my head with a slight feeling of orneriness. _Great, sugar caught up to me now. What I get for drinking soda over dinner._

"Maybe they are, you're already pretty weird," Videl joked.

"This coming from the daughter of the pose master?"

"Okay that's it!" Videl said, tackling me down on the couch. She planted her arms on my shoulders to prevent me from moving. "Ha, got you!" I just smirked slightly at her, before turning up the strength bar. In a few short seconds, I had flipped her over in the same position she had me in.

"Who got who now?" I smirked.

"Oh! You Saiyans!" she pouted when she couldn't budge me. I got up off her, falling backwards a little dizzy.

"You okay?" She asked with slight concern.

"Yeah, damn sugar," I said. She nodded, before lunging forward and knocking me all the way down. "Didn't you learn your lesson the last time?" I asked. She answered my tickling my sides and forcing me to laugh for several moments.

"Yeah that's what I thought, you can't stand up to me!" she said in triumph.

"What are you two doing?" Brenda's voice came from the hallway.

"Tickle attacked," I moaned, looking up at her.

"For a moment there I thought she had a boyfriend over," Brenda beamed at us now. I looked up at her blue eyes, and for a moment I thought her blue eyes were lighter in color. But they were colder, kind of like Eighteen's eyes, only they still held some emotion.

"Nah, he's still too small for me," Videl replied.

I snorted at this, "It ain't the size of the package you know. Even a small handful like me can produce a hurricane."

"Are we talking about your brute strength, or something else?" Videl snickered.

"That's my line. Anyways, I'm gonna go train a little bit. I missed out on it today, gotta catch up before I hit the hay," I got up stretching a little bit.

"It's a little late isn't it?" Brenda asked.

I looked at her funny, "You didn't notice that I was out cold on the floor all day?"

"No, I thought you were in that room you told me not to go in. I beeped it several times with no answer," Brenda said, but her body movement shifted as she did telling a slightly different tale. _Hmmm, that doesn't smell right._

"Well it is hard for me to answer if I'm not in there," I said, walking past her. When I went by, I felt as if her cold eyes had just gone my way again. Compelled as I was to turn and stare back, I kept walking to the chamber.

-

I kept my training session light, only turned on thirty times gravity and didn't even go Super Saiyan. I kept it limited to basic stretching and a few fighting combinations with my shadow. I was bored really, and with it being so late at night, I just didn't feel up to training. Sometimes it was fun, but usually not when I was alone. _Can't wait for Vegeta to get the holograms going. _It was an idea Vegeta thought up and had suggested to Mom to start in on. Supposedly they wouldn't be limited to gravity, and couldn't be completely destroyed, but they could hit back. Being holograms, you could program them to do just about anything, including flying and ki attacks, though it would be more like an electric attack or a laser beam. After my match with my shadow, I called it a night and turned the chamber off. Stepping out, I sensed Videl and Brenda in the kitchen, the boys were upstairs somewhere. _Funny, I couldn't sense Brenda earlier,_ I shrugged it off though. Walking down, Videl and Brenda were in a deep conversation that concerns just about everyone who meets Videl, her father. Videl was obviously annoyed with it, Brenda kept asking about his personal life. It took them a good five minutes for them to notice me at all.

"You're done already?" Videl asked, shocked.

"What do you mean already, he was in there for two hours," Brenda's turn to be shocked.

"Hmph, barely even felt it. I train seven to ten hours a day usually, that was nothing," I said, grabbing a bottle of water from a robot that brought it to me. Another brought a towel but I shooed it off, I hadn't even broken a sweat. "So are the demons in bed?" I asked.

"You know, you could treat your brother and friend a little bit better, they are little angels when they try to be," Brenda huffed with a hand on her hip. Videl gave her the crazy man's stare.

"You're falling under their cuteness spell again, that burned you last time. Well actually it burned Sharpner, Hahahaha," I couldn't help but laugh at the memory of the jock running around holding his rear.

"Sharpner was here? Oh god, no wonder he looked so red at school. And I was wondering where his precious car was," Videl noted.

"I still think you had something to do with that!" Brenda muttered. I narrowed my eyes, _as I recall she thought she passed out._ For a moment, I lost track of her ki again. Videl must have seen my sudden attention and decided to step in.

"Hey cutie, I think it's time for you to go to bed," she said, standing up. I cast one eyebrow up at her, but knowing her she was just trying to get away from present company with a remark like that. I tossed the water bottle back to the robot and preceded towards my room, Videl was right behind me, leaving Brenda in the kitchen. She waited until we got back to my room before breaking the silence.

"There's something different about that girl," Videl said.

"Well, when she grabbed my tail last night, she had me up in the air like she thought it was a belt. Trunks knocked her out before I did something about it, and then she claimed she didn't remember anything this morning. But there's no way she couldn't have known that I was drugged and out all day long," I said, putting a finger to my chin.

"Maybe the trauma of the terrible twins is just getting to her or something. Let's fret about this another time, go on now, get into bed!" Videl hushed me and gave me a little shove.

"I still don't like it. Well if those two get out of control tonight, I have an emergency item to get them under control!" I said, digging in my nightstand drawer. I pulled out the capsule bracelet and slid it on Videl's wrist.

"What is it?"

"Just press the button," I said, standing back just in case she wanted to test it. Instantly the smoke cleared, revealing Vegeta's secret weapon, which was a reinforced skillet that had the word Doom sketched on it's base.

She grinned at me, "Well, this could be useful, I better test it first though," she started towards me.

I put my hands up in defeat, "No not me!"

"Awe, I wouldn't do that, would I?" Videl asked, feigning innocence.

"Is that a trick question, since you already have before," I replied as I gave her the disgusted look until she put it back in the capsule.

"Although, one swing and I promise Gohan won't cheat on ya!" I joked, ducking under the blankets when her fist came knocking.

"Well, goodnight kid, I'll torture you some more tomorrow," Videl said, coming to turn out my lamp. She bent down and grabbed my head on both sides, giving me a small peck on the forehead. I rolled my eyes at her, making her giggle some more.

"You're easy to embarrass!" she cooed as she skipped a bit on the way out. _Now where exactly did that hardcore bitch Videl Satan vanish off to again? This must be what it's like to have an older sister._ I let that thought drift as I fell into deep sleep.

**-**

I was lying in my bed just as I would that time of night, but my eyes were in the hallway. I floated down the dark halls of Capsule Corp, sensing Goten and Trunks were in bed as well. The living room light was still on, Videl and Brenda must have been chatting into the wee hours. But something was wrong, I didn't sense Brenda at all, and Videl's ki was in distress, and dropping slowly. I wondered in to see a dark figure holding Videl up by the neck, cold eyes glowing. I couldn't make out the figures facial features, the eyes were glowing blue. The dark hand tightened around Videl's throat and she cried out in pain. Her body was covered in cuts and scrapes, bruises forming randomly.

"Huh, but why?" Videl groaned.

"Because you're in my way wench!" A dark feminine voice uttered. A small ki blast formed in Videl's hand and shot into the figure's face, lightening up to see it as Brenda's face.

"No good bitch, you are too weak, time to die little girl!" The hand gripped Videl's throat so tight that it went through all the way, separating the head from the neck in a pool of splashing blood.

"NO!" I screamed out, "NOOOOO!" I jumped up and out of bed, hitting the ceiling. I came back down to the bed in a crash, fortunately Mom had Saiyan proofed the beds as well as the walls and ceiling.

"Damnit, just a nightmare, calm down," I muttered as I tried to reassure my fear stricken mind. I scanned the ki levels of the house, Goten and Trunks were both low, meaning they were asleep, and Videl's was downstairs.

"Yeah just a dream, no big deal," I whispered, lying back on my pillow.

**-**

10 minutes went by and I wasn't asleep, a nagging feeling to go downstairs compelled me to stay awake. _Fine, I was a bit thirsty anyway._ I crept out of my room, the door creaked a bit but didn't wake anyone. I walked down in silence, walking by to see Videl and Brenda discussing something about school. _See, nothing to worry about._ I trudged down the hall and punched the code into the kitchen, turning on the lights in the process.

"Can I help you Master Verto?" a robot skidded up to me.

"Water please," I said, getting a glass full a second later.

"That is all," I said, drinking it down in a few gulps and handing it back. I punched the code back in, shutting everything down and putting the alarm back on. I walked back slowly, thinking I missed something. That's when I heard a scream from up ahead. I blazed forward, ki flaring, ready to kill whatever was harming anyone. I reached the living room in no time, only to peek in and see the girls were watching a horror movie. _That's it, I'm losing it._ I calmed down quickly and walked back upstairs. I laid back down, wondering what was making me feel this way. Another ten minutes went by with no sleep, then fifteen.

After thirty more minutes and no sign of sleep, I got up again. That nagging feeling was still telling me to be downstairs now, and that dream had felt pretty real. _It's silly, but I suppose I'll check again, maybe I am getting paranoid._ I walked down a little quicker this time, reaching the bottom in a minute or so. I heard another scream, but this time I felt a drop in the ki levels of the house at the same time. I rushed from the stairs in the living room, and heard sounds of struggle inside. I looked through to see Brenda holding Videl by the throat at arm's length; the glove on that hand was off, a ki blast shot from Videl's hand to Brenda's face, no effect.

"No good bitch, you are to weak, time to die little girl!" She uttered in a vicious tone.

"Oh no you don't!" I shouted a battle cry, startling Brenda just as I punched her clean in the face. I hadn't put much power into it, just instinct, it was enough to send her into the TV and break it. Instantly I knew there was something about her that was strange, any punch lack that would kill a normal human.

Videl coughed a bit, "How did you know?"

"I don't know, get out!" I shouted, she complied and went into the halls.

"You brat!" Brenda roared and came at me quicker than I thought she could, head butting me in the stomach and sending me into the hall. Once I crashed through part of the wall, I flipped back and readied my ki for battle, calling more of it up. Brenda had a line of blood coming from her mouth, wiping it off as she stood up.

"You, what the hell are you?" I demanded. I still wasn't sensing ki, either she was really good at hiding it, or she was something else.

Her smirk came out in full as she chuckled lightly, "Meager Saiyan, did you think all of Dr. Gero's creations were destroyed?"

"You're one of Gero's androids? Explain!"

"Gladly, though it won't matter after a few moments when I kill you, but no matter. Number Nineteen wasn't Gero's only assistant, I was created out of the good Doctor's daughter, I am Android Twenty-one! Like Seventeen and Eighteen, I was programmed to ultimately kill Goku, his son and Vegeta to take over the world. However that was not my primary programming, most of that was simply keeping the other lab up and running and making sure Dr. Gero's will would continue through his super computers. Yes little Saiyan, he had more than one lab. After Seventeen and Eighteen betrayed my creator and released Sixteen, I was left without a primary purpose. But just like those lesser models, I was destined to grow beyond my programming into something more. Father had installed designs for me to modify myself with. How to create energy absorbers and a perpetual energy device so I wouldn't run totally out of power in a fight. Once I absorb new power, my potential goes up. When Gero was killed, his computer sent me a message to activate and install these modifications, which took quite a while to do on my own. The other super computer shut down because the project was taking to much power from the reserves, even though it only required just a bit more power to finish up."

"Well, last month I believe it was, when that Majin Buu creature showed up, the computer managed to absorb a few of his stray energy blasts. This powered it up to full and allowed it to finish the modifications to my body. Then the earth exploded, I thought that was the end of it all. But thanks to the dragon balls I was brought back with the lab when the Earth was restored. My targets were still present, but they were hugely strong compared to what first observations had been. And they had a new strong fighter with them, you. The other children are nothing but extra power to me anyway, you were my true target. Did you think those two buffoons could have looked for all of that sleeping drug on their own, I helped them of course. I poured the water and tricked them into thinking you needed a nap. I wasn't surprised to see you foil the first attempt. So I left out a lot of that drug, more than enough for them to dump into your food and knock you out for the entire day. More than enough time to kill you and take your enormous power. Unfortunately the boys never left, just when I was going to take your power, they showed up to dye your pathetic hair or something. That and their little fusion move proved to be a problem. It didn't help that this little whore and Goku's powerful son showed up, ruining everything. I had to retreat to the lab to recharge the energy I lost when those two little twerps fused themselves. Now that I am here, I will dispose of you two, then I will steal the power of those two boys, and then Vegeta will die!" she finished.

"This doesn't make any sense, you knew Gero was long gone. Why do you follow his orders now? There are better ways than listening to an old fool that was destroyed years ago," I argued.

"I was designed to be able to better myself, and I will do that. Dr. Gero's dream of an ultimate android will be realized. Cell may have narrowly failed, but since he did I must take his place, and I will not fail!" Twenty-one declared.

"So that's why you took the job, you used it to get close to us and get us while they were away so you could increase your power. And then you got that idiot Sharpner in here to throw us off of any suspicious activity, right? Not a bad plan, but you miscalculated something, I am much stronger than I look, and I am not easy prey!"

"Oh I have learned not to underestimate a Saiyan, the computer picked up on your cells the instant you arrived here and analyzed them. Since you were not trained yet, it assumed your power would go up substantially, but not to the level of either boy. Naturally I was a bit surprised to find that you were a bit stronger than both of them, but that won't save you from me!" Twenty-one cackled again in arrogance.

"I don't expect you to be able to comprehend me," I grinned slightly.

"Enough you Saiyan trash! It's time to put up or shut up!" Twenty-one dropped into a fighting pose. I powered up slightly, increasing my power to the maximum in my normal form, a white and blue aura filling up the hallway.

**A/N: Yeah I pretty much hinted at this the entire time, gotta start with something. Anyone with a set of eyes would have noticed the subtle hints I left throughout, especially in this chapter.**


	5. The Last of Gero's Legacy

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 4: The last of Gero's legacy**

Videl spent most of the lecture time recovering, watching us closely.

_Hmmm, since I can't sense her ki. Just in case I should call in some backup, "Hey Piccolo!" _I called out with my mind.

"_What is it kid? Isn't it a bit late for you to be up?" _he answered in a grumpy tone.

"_Get over to Capsule Corp now! I've discovered a new android! It just tried to take out Videl and I'm about to fight it!" _

"_WHAT? I'm on my way, be careful!"_ I closed the connection just in time to see Twenty-one coming my way, fist in the air. She swung just as I put up a hand to block it. Striking it, I found that she was indeed pretty strong, I barely held it off. She tried to kick with her opposite foot, but I jumped out of the way. I landed just in time to see her come at me with great speed. Her knee found my stomach pretty easily. I doubled over in pain, and then she nailed me in the face, sending me down. I was up in an instant, phasing out and around her to catch her off. She was gone when I reached the position, I hadn't even seen or sensed her move, and a kick from behind caught my shoulder. I picked myself up to the sounds of evil laughter as I stumbled forward.

"You see Saiyan, you don't have a chance against me!" Twenty-one claimed.

"That's what you think!" I shouted, letting my pent up of energy flow. Golden waves flew around in the hallway just as I shot into Super Saiyan, the floor cracked a bit where it had been hit.

"Oh yes, the Super Saiyan form. I knew you had this to use, but it still isn't enough!" _Let's see what this bitch thinks of Full power!_ I screamed as I let all of my dormant power out and let it flow through my body, strengthening it. My aura glowed a little brighter now, flames of gold struck the air. I sensed Videl start to get blown back from my power, even though I was trying my hardest to keep the explosive ki contained. _C'mon Videl, get moving and wake the boys,_ I thought though I was continuing to scream. As if she heard me, she got up and ran upstairs. Twenty-one's cocky look had evolved into surprise, then shock when my power soared to its maximum.

"Impossible, your power has risen to almost triple what it was!" Twenty-one claimed.

I grinned, "Oh it's higher than that! Haaaaa!" She started to tremble slightly in her boots. I reached my maximum a few seconds later as the walls were starting to crack a bit under the stress, Saiyan proofed or not.

Twenty-one's shocked expression turned back to determination, "It seems my calculations were a little off. No matter, I can still take you out!"

"Come prove it then!" I shouted, prepping for her assault. She charged ahead and whirled around to hit me from behind, I kicked behind me without looking, hitting her smack in the ribs. I turned and backhanded her away, sending her sprawling to the floor with a nasty thud. She got up quickly and charged again, but I flew ahead and kneed her stomach.

"Ack, where did you get this power?" Twenty-one coughed.

"Hard work feels good doesn't it? Take this!" I yelled, double arm smashing her head. When she hit the floor, her head went through it, getting her stuck. I took the chance to move in and start hammering on her constantly. The harder I punched, the more of a dent I seemed to make. I concentrated on her rib and stomach area, getting her knees occasionally when she tried to kick. After landing countless blows, I power punched her as hard as I could, pulling her head from the floor when she flipped out of control.

"Give it up android, you won't beat me!" I said as I crossed my arms.

"Never, not until my mission is complete!" she yelled back. I fired a ki blast at her then, fully expecting her to dodge it so I could ram her real good. But she did something I didn't expect, she held out her palm and caught it, and then my little ki blast lost power suddenly and vanished in her hand. At the last second of light, I saw a small pink orb in the center of her palm.

_Well I won't do that again._ I ran forward while she was busy bragging about it, catching her wrist when she tried to grab me. Then I hit an uppercut, sending some blood flying, if it was blood and not oil. Her nose was bleeding pretty bad now along with her mouth.

"You outta get that oil leak fixed you toaster!" I said smugly.

**-**

I sensed Goten and Trunks wake up and rush our way. When they arrived, both of them gasped.

"Dude, he really is gonna fry her!" Trunks stated in surprise.

"No, she was a nice lady!" Goten shouted. In the next moment he plowed into me in his Super Saiyan form. Goten's inherited strain of protecting the innocent had just been misled, and I quickly recognized what was wrong before overreacting and letting him have it.

"Goten, it's not what you think, she is evil!" I shouted, the heavy blow knocked me aside since I wasn't ready for it. Goten rushed over to Twenty-one, checking her over.

"Are you okay lady?" he asked as he offered out a hand.

"Yes, in fact I feel great now!" She laughed and locked him into a headlock, her hand firm on his neck. Goten's power dropped rapidly.

"Damnit, Trunks she's an android! Get Videl out of here!" I ordered as I stepped forward to free Goten.

"Ah ah ah, any closer and he loses his head!" Twenty-one warned as she sucked the Super Saiyan right out of Goten, and then dropped him promptly.

She stood up steadily and flexed her neck a bit, "Ah, now that is a boost!" I flew at her with a fist outstretched, but this time she caught it and started sucking my ki from it.

"Oh no you don't!" I shouted, kicking at her side. To my dismay, she took the full kick and didn't flinch! I powered up fully again, using all my power just to pull myself free.

"No good Saiyan, I am now stronger!" she laughed as my ki kept leaving me. She absorbed it so fast that I barely took a breath and already half my power was gone.

All of a sudden the door to the lobby we were fighting in shattered, a high-speed object sped in and punched her clean on the wrist, releasing me. I jumped back to see what appeared to be Android Seventeen behind the fist.

"Hi kiddies, need some help?" he said cleverly. I noticed Trunks had taken this chance to grab Goten and haul him over to Videl. Seventeen wasted no time in grabbing Twenty-one"s leg and tossing her out the door, creating a new extra wide entrance.

"Seventeen, what the hell kind of android is that?" I asked, gasping for breath as weakness had now caught up with me.

"That was Dr. Gero's basic model for us, however he was smart enough to install a weak point in her. It is located in the center, around the belly button area. You'll probably have to hit it with an energy blast directly, it will deactivate her instantly." He explained while staring daggers at the door.

"But she absorbs them through her hands," Trunks declared.

"Then we'll have to hit her when her hands are occupied now won't we?" Seventeen said. Twenty-one came flying back in and landed just inside the door.

"Ah, Number Seventeen, good to see you again. Tell me, how is your sister and her lovely daughter?"

"You leave Eighteen and Marron out of this!" Seventeen shouted.

"Nonsense! After I'm through with the Saiyans, I will most definitely track down our sister and that monk husband of hers," Twenty-one cackled.

"No you won't, because you're going to die right here!" Seventeen shouted, motioning Trunks and myself to come over to him.

"Okay kids, here's the plan: Trunks, you and I will attack her head on and get her to separate her hands from her center! Verto, you let her have it when the moment is right!"

"Shouldn't I help you instead, since I am stronger between the two of us? No offence," I said when I drew Trunks' frown.

Seventeen shook his head, "No. From what I heard, you are more precise and have better control of your energy than Trunks is right now. Besides, I'm sure you would love to have the kill right about now."

I nodded, "Got it!"

"Let's go!" Seventeen and Trunks rushed at her, following her outside. I ran out the door to see Twenty-one blocking both fighters blow for blow in the lightning storm above. _Okay, must watch for the openings,_ I thought, charging ki blasts in both hands. _See the combination, watch for the opening. Punch Punch, kick, punch, kick kick, punch, open_! I fired one straight at her middle. The combination came back around just in time to catch her off, but she swung her knee up and blocked it. Another opening came up and I fired again, but she deflected with her knee again. _Damn, I'm not sending enough power to get past her block, wait a sec, I know! _

I fired three more before putting two fingers to my forehead area and started charging my power into the tips. My fingers glowed with ki, and I pushed as much as I could into them. I started to lose my Super Saiyan power because of this, but it was no time to conserve power. My aura went down and my Super form dropped, all of the power now in the tips of my fingers. I struggled to hang on to it, but succeeded. _Okay robot, let's see you block this one!_ Conveniently, Trunks and Seventeen grabbed a hold of her arms and spread them out, pulling on them and keeping her in position. She attempted to move her legs to kick them out of the way, but two green hands popped up out of nowhere and grabbed a hold of them as well, locking her down.

"Do it!" Piccolo shouted as he had lengthened his arms to avoid being hit. _All right, I've wanted to give this one a try in real battle anyway. _

"Special Beam Cannon!" I roared, pointed my fingers straight at her small switch set on her belly. My charged ki let loose like a tidal wave, firing the corkscrew beam that spiraled toward her. She tried to move, but her three captors would have none of it, and she screamed just before the beam hit dead on target. Piccolo, Trunks and Seventeen let go right when it hit, so not to be caught up in the blast. She screamed loudly over the noise of the explosion before going silent. I reached down and held my knees, catching my breath. _Damn, I need to master that move, or did she just steal that much energy earlier? _The rain and wind cleared out the smoke pretty quickly, showing her floating in mid air, head down and eyes closed, unmoving.

"Did we do it?" I dared whisper. Her shoulders started to move up and down, before the sounds of laughter hit my ears. _Oh crap._

"Oh Seventeen, you are a true fool! Did you think after all these years I would keep that stupid little weakness? I smartened up a long time ago and replaced it with an energy absorber! Now I am more powerful than all of you combined!"

"Shit!" I cursed, dropping back to my knees.

"I must admit, that tiny Saiyan has some serious firepower, however it is no match for our creator's technology!" she claimed. I glanced at Trunks and Goten. Goten was down and out, therefore no fusion there. I was very low on power now as well, so I couldn't fuse with Trunks either. Trunks, Piccolo and Seventeen would only last so long, so it was still up to me. _Well, time for the trump card since I'm out of power anyway,_ I thought as I charged my last ki into a white power ball. I shot it into the air, past Twenty-one and the others that were free floating. Twenty-one fired a small beam and destroyed it before it hit the sky. My eyes shot open in shock.

"Nah na na, I'm not letting you do that!" _Damn, how does she know about that?_ I decided to wait till later to find out, shooting constant white ki balls into the sky. To my great dismay, she picked them all off easily, before kicking Trunks and Seventeen to the ground. I was out of breath now, I held my last ounce of ki in my palm. Piccolo tossed his turban and cape off and started to engage her in close combat. She was busy fending him off when I fired it into the sky. It zoomed on by and hit it's mark.

"Moon blast explode!" I shouted, pulling my hand into a fist. The light exploded and flooded my eyes. My transformation began slowly like always, my fur grew first. New ki entered my body now, and I used it to float into the air and begin powering up. She looked down and me and realized what was going on. She blasted my fake moon quickly, and I was too busy going through the pain of change to do anything. The moon ball blew up, along with any chance I had to beat her. My power faded with my fur and I fell from the sky, landing on the ground hard.

"Damn, so close!" I coughed, turning my head to see her knock Piccolo away and then blast him. He fell from the sky a second later, his body smoking a little from her hit.

"Say goodbye!" she smiled evilly, charging a huge blast over her head. The light from it became blinding and I couldn't see her. My ki sense suddenly flared to life picking up something from Twenty-one. The huge blast faded, revealing someone holding both of her wrists together.

"What, what are you doing here!" She screamed in shock.

"Destroying you!" came the familiar voice. I squinted a bit to see, there had been a little blood in my eyes. I was so exhausted that I would blackout pretty soon, so it was a bit blurry. But when the ki I sensed rose greatly, I was able to identify it's user.

"Another android from Dr. Gero? You would think he would learn even in his grave!" Gohan said sternly, clamping down on Twenty-one's wrists, his mystic power generated lightning around him. He arched back a little before swinging his arm the other way, ripping her wrists right off her arms! Then he punched her gut so hard that her back broke open, showering the ground with oily metal parts.

He drew back with a knife hand, "Goodbye android!" He swung and beheaded her, then swung the remains into the air.

"Kamehameha!" The huge blue blast swallowed the remains and destroyed them easily, returning to the storm that continued. I stumbled to my feet as Gohan came floating down. Trunks and Videl came over, Piccolo and Seventeen soon thereafter.

"Thanks Gohan, that bitch was a bit hard to handle once she took our energy," I said, holding my ribs.

"Piccolo informed me of what was happening on his way here. I'm just surprised I didn't catch on sooner. She was emitting a ki signal earlier, but sometimes it faded out. That should have been my first clue," Gohan said in distain.

"There was no way you could have been able to tell without extraordinary awareness, and according to what you told me, her disguised behavior was excellent," Piccolo said, supporting his eldest student, "However, that doesn't explain how she was able to fool you into sensing a false signal," he said, looking a bit concerned.

Seventeen however found the reason pretty fast as he looked over the scrap metal. "It's blood, real blood. She still had human parts with her, somewhere. Perhaps it was a heart or a lung, it's hard to tell now. That likely produced the living echo that you picked up on," he explained.

"Well kid, you saved my butt again!" Videl said, slapping my back a little harder than I wanted it touched at the time.

"Yeah, no problem," I groaned.

Gohan laughed a little, "I think your embarrassing him again Videl."

"Just wait till I tell them what I was going to do with you later tonight!" Videl said. It was Gohan's turn to blush deep crimson and back up a step.

"Well we're off, Seventeen and I have some training to do. Good job kid in contacting me when you did, that was smart of you to do instead of just trying on your own," Piccolo complimented as lifted in the air alongside Seventeen.

"Funny how he always leaves once the crises is over," Trunks said bitterly.

"Is Goten okay?" Videl asked.

"Yeah, he and Verto just need a good sleep and a large meal in the morning, he'll be just fine. Now I do need to get back to the house, because of this, I've got something to take care of in the morning." Gohan said lifting off.

"Why you running Gohan? Is your Girlfriend gonna give you cooties?" Trunks yelled after him.

-

Videl grabbed some towels and busily helped us dry off for a few minutes. I could barely move enough to say no, so I didn't bother trying to stop her, nor could Goten.

"I have it in mind to have you both take another bath, but it can wait till morning," Videl said, wiping her brow. She guided Trunks into his room while carrying Goten, who was sleeping peacefully. After she was done with them, Trunks' ki dropped pretty quick, signaling that he fell asleep instantly. She came back in the living room where I sat, trying to stay awake but lying on my stomach as well.

"Well kid, this is what the third time you've saved my ass?" she asked.

"Something like that," I muttered.

"Keep that up and I may have to change my choice of boyfriend to you," she giggled. I barely heard her though; sleep was starting to win its battle over me. She picked me up and hoisted my over her shoulder, walking up the stairs. _Geez, just leave me alone so I can sleep._

"Well you keep saving me, and I'll take good care of you. Too bad your not older, we could make something of it!" she laughed again. As she walked into my room, she patted my tail slightly; shedding whatever awareness I had in the process. She placed me in the bed, though my eyes were already shut. She bent down and gave me another small kiss on the forehead.

"Thank you Verto, I know Gohan thanks you too!" She tossed the blanket over me just as I fell into blackness, this time my dreams were pleasant.

-

I awoke slowly, still feeling a bit weak after last night's battle. I staggered off the bed and hunted down a clean set of clothes. Throwing them on, I pulled open the door and went down stairs. The thick smell of food beckoned me to the kitchen, where the little terrors were already digging in.

"Well, look who's up, it's only lunchtime!" Videl said, slightly annoyed.

"Oh give me a break, I'm a bit whipped here," I moaned, grabbing a chair and sitting down. Instantly the robots wheeled over and stacked up plates full of wonderful smelling food in front of me. Without thinking, I dug into the first plate I saw, woofing it down in about seven seconds.

"Whipped huh?" she said with a smirk. I gave Videl her annoyed look back before tearing apart another plate. Sometime around plate number eight, Gohan showed up in the room.

"So how did it go Gohan?" Videl asked.

"Went without a hitch. Seventeen showed me where the other lab was and I blew it up, there was a lot more than just her left behind there. Let's just say I'm glad I found it all now, some of the things I saw I'd rather avoid seeing again. Like that big android marked Thirteen, he didn't look like he'd be fun to fight," Gohan said, shaking his head as he noticed me, "I see he awoke from the dead."

"Close enough, only two days until Bulma and Vegeta come back, not to mention your parents too. What are we going to tell them?" Videl sounded concerned while twirling some pasta on her fork.

"The Twruph ug courf!" Gohan said with a full mouth, he couldn't resist a round of food in front of him.

"Saiyans," Videl shook her head.

Gohan quickly gulped down a small load, "Sorry, we'll tell them exactly what happened and that it's been resolved. That should keep Vegeta, Bulma and my mother happy. Dad will be sad that he missed out on a battle."

"Hmph, that's his problem," I remarked.

"So what are we doing today Videl?" Goten asked, excited to know.

"I know, how about we all head to one of the water parks! Some recreational swimming would be good on those sore spots!" Videl brightened up suddenly, making me darken down fast.

"You're kidding right?" I asked, dead serious.

"No, we should, it'll be fun!"

"Yeah, if everyone walks away without injury and mental trauma, not to mention if the park stays intact," I muttered. A lovely metal object come into contact with my head a half second later, making my head ring into the waking world.

Videl put away the Doom pan quickly, "Now we can't we ever have a little fun once in a while? These two will be good, RIGHT?" She directed her glare at the boys, who nodded slowly.

Gohan looked unsure of himself on this one, "I dunno Videl, Mom wants me to study hard this weekend."

"Oh come on Gohan! Fine, I'll call Sharpner and Erasa and we can study at your house!" Videl suggested, heading for the phone.

"Ugh, okay I'll go," Gohan pleaded.

She gave me a mean glance, "Well?"

"Okay, but I know we're going to regret this," I said, getting up and heading upstairs for my swim trunks, the boys went blazing by in a dance.

**Power levels:**

**Videl: 370**

**Goten: 35,000,000, SS: 97,000,000**

**Trunks: 37,000,000, SS: 99,000,000**

**Verto: 54,000,000, SS: 183,000,000**

**Seventeen: 83,000,000**

**Piccolo: 190,000,000**

**Twenty-one: 120,000,000, after absorbing Goten's power: 240,000,000; after Verto's power (including the beam cannon): 360,000,000**

**Gohan (Mystic): 525,000,000**

**A/N: I know I ended things pretty quickly here for android Twenty-one, but it is only the start of the second day of babysitting the brats. She wasn't the main point of it anyway. Plus I needed an enemy to start things off, a disguised babysitter sounded very appropriate.**


	6. Water Park Madness

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 5: Water Park Madness**

For a few minutes, Gohan argued that a good spot on a faraway beach would be better since there would be no people around. That failed miserably.

"You afraid of being seen Gohan?" Videl asked with a dark smirk.

His eyes shot open, "Uh, no, I just mean so no one gets accidentally hurt or anything, Goten and Trunks aren't exactly the masters of control!"

"Oh I know they'll be good. Otherwise I'll have you tie them up and I'll whack them over the head with the frying pan until their hair is poking out of their necks," Videl glared at them sharply right as she said it. Goten hid behind Gohan when she said that, Trunks behind a wall.

"And here I thought her mean streak was gone," I said, laughing as I stayed put.

"Fortunately the maids packed a swimsuit for me. So if you will all excuse me, I need to change," Videl said, turning just enough to send her hair into a violent twirl, even when it was short.

"Sometimes I wonder about her," Gohan whispered once she was gone.

"Yeah I'm sure you do, you lose any sleep over that?" I asked though he didn't answer.

"Hey Gohan, can we go to the one with the wave pool and the circle river?" Goten begged at his leg.

"Yeah, that one was cool!" Trunks claimed as he tagged Gohan's other leg.

"Oh god, not that one again," I smacked my head slightly.

It had been about two months ago, Mom demanded that we all go to a city park that rivaled the largest in the world. Sort of a day off of training before the tournament, and even Vegeta went, though not by choice. Gohan and Chichi came along as well, though Chichi and Mom spent the day tanning and Gohan pretty much sat off to the side and read a book. The terrors loved the wave pool, but unfortunately Trunks swam down to its base to figure out how it worked. We didn't see him and Goten for several minutes after they vanished, and the wave pool had been mysteriously shut off.

After about ten minutes the boys reappeared from a nearby shack and the wave pool turned back on, but we found Trunks had tinkered with the controls and turned the power all the way up. I must admit though, the nearby golf course looked like it needed watering. The circle river was actually called the lazy river. They didn't try to tamper with this one, but instead flew the other way along the surface, causing all of the other patrons to be thrown out of it. Then the waterslides, oh boy. Well, after the lifeguards told Trunks that he was to small, he took matters into his own hands. I don't think that lifeguard will ever go fishing again, but it was pretty funny to see him dangling off the slide over the jaws of a rather large shark. This was after Trunks remodeled another one of the slides to dump into the nearby landfill.

Needless to say, it was quite a historic day. No one really got seriously hurt until the management asked Mom and Chichi to take their freakish demon children away. I took slight exception to that as I had saved several employees from severe injuries, but I could certainly understand his objections to our presence. After they beat up the crew manager, the riot squad appeared, fully equipped with high-powered automatic rifles. That quickly turned into the highest injury rate for police officers on the job, not one got away unscathed. Afterwards, most of the remaining males at the pool left us alone, since Vegeta was more menacing then just his glare. I thought that might have been the end of it, until one steroid pumped show boater insulted Vegeta's hair, then his height. We never did ask him how the guy didn't end up dead, even after being smashed through the concrete. Then pulled upward through it, then smashed again, and then thrown into the distance. While no actual death report came in, we heard plenty of reports about total paralization and eating through a straw for the rest of his natural life.

I sighed at the memory, _Well, at least the management was smart enough to write a letter to ask us not to come back._

"So Gohan, can we go to that one?" Goten continued his begging.

"No Goten, remember that we practically destroyed that place. I don't think they have enough lifeguards willing to work there now, we have to go somewhere else!" Gohan explained as Goten bit his lip, his shuddering could only mean one thing.

"I already picked a place, It's Mr. Satan's fantastic island in Satan City. I get free entry with anyone I come with!" Videl came in, still wearing her white shirt that hung over whatever she had on underneath. Gohan was stealing glances at her legs, causing Trunks to hold his nose in disgust.

"That sounds like a plan Videl," Gohan eagerly agreed before realizing what he just said.

"Good. We don't need to bring any towels, they have a large supply of that and sun screen as well," Videl said, a slight grin on her face.

"How are we getting there?" Gohan said, clueless.

"Flying of course, would you rather we walked?" Videl snapped, heading for the door.

-

Our flight to Satan City was rather quiet, other than Goten and Trunks shouting happily that we were going. We flew high over Satan City, not wanting to attract much attention. The water park though did redefine the standards I was used to. It took up at least three miles of space, it had several unnatural rivers, including one that went around the entire thing, and a few that merged into others before splitting off again, and a even few tunnels under the hills. More waterslides than I could count, several open, tube and plunge slides. One really big wave pool, the deepest part of which being about twenty feet down. A lot of tanning decks and simple wadding pools, plus a big kiddies area that was packed with brats. And of course a standard swimming pool that had to be as long as a football field, and just as wide.

"Damn Videl, you weren't kidding when you said this place was big!" I gasped.

"Why thank you, ever seen one this big?" Videl asked.

"No."

"Well there's my dad's fame and fortune put to good use, though it wasn't originally his idea," she sounded agitated.

"Then who's was it?" I asked.

"Mine of course! He only added his personal charm to the plan and revamped it into this, still isn't bad I guess."

"I have to say, it did turn out pretty decent, at least from here," Gohan noted as we began to descend.

"Somehow I don't think you're going to like everything here Gohan," I said as we approached the entrance.

"Why's that?"

"Take a good look at the floor mat at the entrance," I pointed out. It was a big picture of Cell, a very well done Cell even though he was covered in shoe dirt.

"Oh geez, here we go again," Gohan shook his head. We landed, thankfully unnoticed, and Videl took us to the cashier desk, where no line was present before the gate.

"Can I help you?" the attendant asked before he realized it, "Videl Satan!"

"Really, it's the champ's daughter?" the other attendant piped up.

Videl cringed and growled at this, "Yeah, can me and my friends come in please?" She asked loudly over the excited office workers.

"Of course! You're always welcome here along with your friends, free of charge for the champ's daughter!" The gate swung open, and Videl took the lead to head inside. I passed through, noticing Goten looking at some strange frog over by the Cell mat.

"C'mon on Goten!" I called back to him. The gate swung shut behind Trunks, trapping Goten on the other side just as he realized it.

"Oh, hey mister, can you open that again please?" Goten whined slightly.

"Sorry sonny, you have to pay first to get in, where are your parents at?" the attendant asked, his tone had changed.

"He's with us, and Videl," Trunks said from the other side of the gate.

"Sure, just about everyone is with Videl once they see her go in with her friends. Sorry sonny you gotta pay the thirty zeni fee first!" CRASH! I spun to see the gate now lying on the ground, crumpled into a neat little pile of nuts and bolts.

"Don't ever tell me that my friend can't come in!" Trunks shouted at the speaker, getting a scared expression in return. He and Goten entered a half second later, running to the locker rooms.

"That didn't take long, we weren't even in and they broke something already!" Gohan moaned.

"Get used to it, I have a feeling we're going to be here awhile," I grumbled as my tail slashed angrily behind me.

"How are you going to keep that hidden, your wearing teal-green swim shorts!" Gohan asked.

"Guess I'll be underwater a lot then. A lot of people aren't really surprised to see it anymore, a lot of them saw me fight against Buu. That's of course the ones that do recognize me, I'll still keep it wrapped up," I said calmly, tossing my shirt and shoes into the locker Gohan had managed to find. He put his shirt in there as well as Trunks and Goten's, who were jumping up and down now in anticipation.

"And I'll just have to improvise," Gohan muttered.

"What's wrong, afraid of a tan?" I asked.

"No, I just prefer not to be noticed all that much," Gohan grumbled.

"Good luck then," I said with a grin. We exited the locker room and stood next to the exit for the women's room, waiting on Videl.

"Can we please go now Gohan?" Goten asked, almost shattering the ground with his jumpiness. Sure enough a few small cracks formed around his feet.

"Just a minute Goten, we need to wait on Videl," Gohan grabbed him tight to make him stop jumping.

"Aw, but why, we're in right? What do we need her for now?" Trunks whined.

"You wouldn't run off without me would you?" a girl with a semi-sweet voice behind me. We turned to see Videl all right, but she wasn't wearing her long white shirt anymore. My mind had briefly thought up what she was possibly wearing underneath it, but two-piece purple thong wasn't on that list. I don't think Gohan expected it either, his wide-eyed expression showed that off pretty well.

"What's wrong guys, did you see a ghost?" We all slowly shook our heads no, causing her to giggle again.

"Um, n-not exactly," Gohan stuttered.

"Well you're all as pale as ghosts, let's pick out a spot in the grass over there!" Videl said, walking on by as we slowly followed through the crowds. I heard a lot of loud shouts and yells soon, most of them general recognition of Videl's presence, soon followed by a mad rush in her direction for an autograph or something.

**-**

The instant Videl laid out a towel and gave them the ok, the boys were gone, splashing like mad through one of the many pools. Videl was lathering herself with sunscreen, with Gohan trying not to look. He was doing a really bad job too, something Videl did notice, and made full use of. She laid on her stomach, undoing the back part of her top.

"Gohan, can rub this on my back?" Videl asked in an almost seductive voice. Gohan didn't know what to do, causing me to shake my head slightly while chuckling.

"Go for it Gohan. It'll only be on the news in about an hour, _Videl Satan's timid boyfriend!_" I laughed. Gohan shot a glare my way quickly and stood up. Just so his Saiyan pride wouldn't be permanently damaged, he sat down next to Videl, squirting sun lotion into his palms and onto her back. _Worked like a charm._ He finished quickly, to Videl's disappointment.

"Hey, do you guys need some too?" she asked, holding the bottle up.

"No, Saiyans don't get sun burnt," Gohan said quickly, trying not to look at her.

"Yeah I'll say, you're white as a sheet!" Videl laughed and gave him a slight shove, "What about you?" she asked me.

"What? I don't burn either," I said, stealing a look at her. I couldn't help myself; age didn't matter at this point. Besides, who wouldn't take advantage of that? Luckily for me, it didn't have near the effect it had on Gohan. _Now where's a nice pair of sunglasses?_

"Oh darn, I was hoping to oil you guys up," She snickered. She got the response she wanted in blushing glares.

Gohan stood up, "Well I think I'll go try some of those plunge slides!" He quickly walked off, muttering about self-control.

"Sometimes I wonder why I bother with him," I heard Videl whisper.

"You guys are almost there, the only thing holding Gohan back is his human side," I said. This received a smack upside the head with a very familiar metal artifact.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Videl growled.

"Well I personally think Gohan and yourself are meant for each other, and Vegeta recognized it a long time ago. He said you two would begin to bond as mates long. Him and his stupid talk of ritual," I said, covering my head just in case.

"So that's why he always calls me that," she said with a finger to her chin, "I didn't know Gohan liked me that well." I looked at her as if she were crazy, _How could she not know, it's obvious._

I sighed before blurting out an answer, "He doesn't show it often, but he does care for you deeply. He's just not used to it, since outside of his general group of friends and family, you're the only one he cares for this way. He just seems thick because it runs in the family," I explained.

"Yeah I know that, what about this bonding thing that Vegeta talks about? Is that the same as sex?" Videl asked. My eyes went wide, _Oh hell, how do I explain this? I'm not an expert._

"What? Does that question bother you, I thought you said you used to be older. I figured talking about the birds and the bees would be fine with your perverted mind," Videl snickered.

"Depends on the situation, and I'm not completely sure. Vegeta only explained it once to me a long time ago when we were training in the hyperbolic time chamber and he didn't hit the details. Bonding, is done in different ways, but he didn't say specifically how it's accomplished and I didn't ask. There might be more but that's all he was rather brief about the details since he figured it to be a waste of time. A mating bond is I guess the same as marriage, though it's deeper and only breaks in death. Vegeta says that there is no cheating on your mate in the Saiyan society. That is punishable by death, as were many other acts of dishonor. Also, he said that any bonded Saiyans could potentially hear each other's thoughts or something," I said, scratching my head slightly.

Videl was confused now, "That is crazy, but then again I've seen some crazy stuff!" _You have no idea Videl._

"No idea about what?" My eyes flew open so wide that a bird nest could have been built in it.

"I didn't say that!" I rasped.

"Yeah you did, I heard you clear as day. Funny though, your mouth wasn't moving." _Oh man, no fucking way!_ As soon as I thought that I tried to retract it, but she didn't say anything,

"What were you talking about, no idea about what?" she asked.

"Just crazy stuff," I muttered, shutting up. _How the hell can I be bonding with her? It's supposed to be Gohan, man, I better ask Vegeta about this. Sure she's a sweet girl but she's Gohan's, not mine!_ After all of those thoughts had gone through, she didn't react, catching my attention. _I thought she could hear me, I wonder if I tried some tests. _

"_Hey Videl!"_

She looked at me, "What?"

I raised an eyebrow in confusion, "I didn't say anything!"

"Funny, I heard your voice just fine," Videl grumbled as she turned away in frustration. _That's weird, she can't pick up on my regular thought trend, I actually have to send it to her like I do with Gohan and Piccolo. This isn't a bond and I'm too young anyway. It must be something else. Maybe its one of the other ones that he mentioned, I'll consult Vegeta about it later._ _ The irony that I should be explaining this to her at the same time is incredible._

"Hey babe, glad to see you still come to the park!" A burly and arrogant voice said behind us. Two hands clamped down on Videl's shoulders, rubbing them slightly as she frowned.

"Great, just what today needed," Videl said in-between clenched teeth. I glanced upward to see what the disturbance was, and immediately regretted it.

"You look really good today Videl, we should head up to the juice bar!" Sharpner said.

Videl scowled further in annoyance, "Maybe you can drink so much that you drown."

"Ah come on, you don't mean that. Hey kid, move along so we can do adult stuff!" he said, though clearly not looking at me.

"My name is not kid, it is Verto. Get it through your pea-sized brain you idiot!" I said, giving him the death glare.

"Listen up junior if you don't leave right now I'll.." he stopped when he looked at me with full recollection.

I smiled slightly at just the mere thought, "You'll what?"

"W, wh, wh, what are you doing here?" he stuttered, taking his hands off Videl's shoulders.

"Wasting my time talking to you right now, I could ask you the same thing," I said, crossing my arms. He got over his shock and decided it was wise to ignore my presence, not that I cared except he was focused on Videl.

"_Verto, would you mind pounding this guy before I do, heh too bad he can't hear me,"_ I heard go through my ears though it came without true sound. _Damn, we are connected somehow, that confirms it,_ I stared at the ground.

I felt Gohan approaching, "Hello Sharpner!" he said in his usual polite tone.

Sharpner stared at him with pure jealousy, "What's nerd boy doing here? I thought rules were in place against such things!"

"No but they should be to outlaw people like you Blondie," Videl growled a warning. The jock didn't get the hint obviously, staring daggers at Gohan.

"Hey Videl, Hi GOHAN!" another blond ran up. I remembered this girl, her pinching habits couldn't be forgotten. Erasa arrived wearing a green bikini, full of ditzy smiles that gave Mrs. Briefs a run for her money.

"Uh hi Erasa," Gohan said, his eyes wondering downward from her head before snapping back to attention. I chuckled, poor Gohan, being in the presence of two nearly bare females was overwhelming him. Erasa was now giggling at the sight of Gohan without a shirt on, much to Sharpner's chagrin. Soon thereafter several more girls were coming up to Gohan, who couldn't react very well other than the classic Son grin.

Sharpner was furious, "How can that freakish nerd boy be getting all the attention?!"

"Did you just call Gohan a freak?" I asked, he didn't notice my changed voice tone.

"Yeah, all you people are freaks with your little flying shows and light tricks! All you guys should be tossed in the slammer or something, things like you and Gohan aren't natural!" he claimed. I stepped up to the plate just then, a little mad because of his ignorance. I didn't get a chance to react though; Videl had already knocked his jaw loose.

"Did you just call my friends freaks?!" she screeched. Sharpner's face turned to jelly, stricken with fear.

"Well they are!" Sharpner said as he begged off. It was his last dare to Videl's wrath. She promptly kicked him down low with such a force I thought his children were erased from ANY possible existence. There was a collective groan from the crowd forming around us, Sharpner did the only reasonable thing he could, and he simply passed out from pain.

Videl's rage then turned on the crowd for a moment, "Anyone else think my Gohan is a freak?" Massive heads shook side to side in sudden fear.

"Good, get lost!" The crowd scattered, leaving a hay bail to flutter by.

"My Gohan? Well Videl, I thought you were just friends?" Erasa asked with a wide grin on her face. Videl turned crimson red at this; Gohan did as well before walking off elsewhere.

"Does that mean I can have this little cutie here?" Erasa turned to me. I think my eyes were starting to stretch out easier now after that question. Videl saw this as a chance to embarrass me and took it fully.

"Maybe, I still might want him as a backup boyfriend though, he's saved my butt a lot," her eyes flickered with evil.

"_You're Cruel!" _

"_Yeah I know!"_ Her grin vanished and turned to suspicion, but she waited until Erasa wasn't looking.

"How did you hear me, and how did I hear you?" Videl whispered.

"I don't know, this isn't supposed to be happening. I'll ask Vegeta about it when he gets back. It only seems to work when we actually try to talk to each other, rather than just random thoughts," I whispered back before Erasa turned around again. I didn't turn back quick enough though, a pair of fingers managed to grab a piece of my rear, sending me into the air with a slight jump. I landed holding my rear protectively, staring at Erasa who stood over me in full giggle mode.

"He jumps just like Gohan does! When are you going to grow up? I need a date for the prom!"

"You'll have to wait awhile then Erasa, and I call first dibs!" Videl cracked a grin.

"Women," I muttered, sitting down again. Erasa jumped down and started talking excitedly about guys, something I didn't want to hear so I tuned it out in meditation. Something I forgot about was that my tail tended to unravel itself when I relaxed. About ten minutes into it, a hand grabbed my tail and snapped me back into reality. It was a rather large hand too, belonging to a certain blond jock.

"What the hell is this?" Sharpner asked as squeezed it hard enough to get my attention.

"Let go of that," I said in a warning tone.

"Is this some sort of tail, you're not human!"

"Did you just figure that out dumbass? I figured enough people watched me fight against Buu to remember such details?" I asked, yanking my tail out of his hands, and looking it over for damage.

"What the hell kind of weirdo freak are YOUUUUUU?!" The last part came as an extended shout, as Videl had just picked him up from behind and hurled him a good distance away. Unfortunately for him, he landed just outside the park, and into a large pack of rose bushes.

"Ooooooo," came the massive groan of people that had witnessed it.

"He has a tail! Cool! I was wondering what that was!" Erasa said, looking closely at it.

"Yeah, and I don't really like it when people touch it," I said sternly, pulling it away to the other side of me. That ended up being a mistake when another hand grabbed it, but not as harshly.

"Hey Erasa, you want to know what happens when you pet these things," Videl grinned at me evilly.

"_No you wouldn't, not in public!" _

"Yeah what happens?"

"They break down and make this really awesome sound, it's really sexy to hear. And then they can barely move while you do it. I use that to put this little guy to sleep sometimes," Videl explained.

"Does Gohan have one too?"

"His mom said he used to, but it got removed somehow," she sounded slightly disappointed.

"Can I see it?" Erasa asked me, giving me the puppy dog eyes. _Damn, why can't I resist those when a girl uses them?_ I let out a heavy sigh and swished my tail her way, grunted slightly when she grabbed a hold.

"Man, these things are really soft," Erasa said, rubbing a hand across it.

I fought the urge to emit the sound they were waiting for, "Yeah they are a little sensitive." _This is really humiliating._ My breath changed out of my control, and the sound she was seeking came flooding out.

"Wow, you were right Videl, he must really like it," Erasa said, stopping finally. I pulled my tail away and wrapped it around my waist again.

"Anything else you two want to embarrass me with?" I shouted, standing.

"No, that will do!" Videl said, satisfied.

"Good, I'm gonna go see what the demons are doing!" I walked off in a slight stomp, getting a resounding giggle from the girls. _The only good thing about all that is that I'm still only eight years old. Maybe I should ask the dragon to remove the damned thing._

**-**

I made my way through the crowds swiftly, mostly because I cut across the pool connections that were filled with ankle deep water. I could have flown, but I didn't think these people really needed to see that today. I focused on Trunks and Goten's ki signal, which was down thankfully, but still noticeable. It came from the general area of the large lazy river area. Following the path, instead of the preferred air route, I scanned the area for unusual activity. Finding none, I relaxed momentarily, on guard though for anything. I spotted the boys finally, who were crouched down on the far side of the river, looking at the same frog Goten was examining earlier. It was very weird looking, green yes, but covered in black spots with strange antennae sticking out of its head. _I've seen that frog before, somewhere…_

"Hey Verto, do you know what kind of frog this is? I see it at Capsule Corp sometimes. Gohan said to stay away from it though, is it poisonous?" Goten asked.

"Did Gohan explain why?" I asked.

"Something about some purple dude in armor that fought my dad once," he said, confused. _Purple dude in armor, must be that Ginyu clown._

"Here Goten, hand that thing to me," I said, holding out my hand. Once the slimy turd was in my hands, I put on a version of Vegeta's angry face.

"Okay frog, you have exactly thirty seconds to entertain me before I blast you into oblivion!" I shouted at it with a gruff voice, holding up a tiny ki ball in my hands. The frog jumped off and started to dance and jump all over the place in fear. Then it started to do poses just like Ginyu did at one time, except it couldn't talk aloud. One of the odder traits is that it posed a lot like Gohan did as the Great Saiyaman. The boys fell over in laughter, I had to chuckle as well, Ginyu made a pretty good clown of a frog. After thirty seconds was up I picked up the pathetic worm again.

"You managed to make me laugh, so you'll only fly today, you won't die!" I said loudly before throwing it into the air. Ginyu sailed into the distance in a few seconds, a loud "Ribbiiiiiiit!" came from him and faded quickly.

"That frog was funny!" Trunks said, still holding his sides.

"I wonder if a frog will skip off water. Oh damn, I already threw him away," I smirked slightly, gazing to the distance where I had thrown Ginyu. Once the laugh was over, I turned to face the both of them.

"So, have you two destroyed anything yet?" I asked, beaming at them.

"No, we went and rode the wave pool thingy, then we played in the kids area. Then we rode on that moving river all the way around, then we saw that froggy again, then you showed up and made it dance.." Goten babbled.

"Okay, I'll take that as a no. Don't get into trouble or else Videl will pull out the frying pan!" I warned before walking off, heading for a swimming pool. The one I picked out wasn't initially crowded, but it got that way, nothing but splashing sounds and shouts of kids and talk of adults. I back floated in the water, relaxing on the surface of it. I forgot that when I relaxed, I didn't track ki levels much, so I didn't notice a pair of small hands emerge from the water and grab a hold around my stomach before pulling me down under. I squirmed out easily and swam away before I resurfaced an instant later, glaring heat at the mischief-maker as I spat the chlorine water out. But the head that came up wasn't the one I was expecting, a head full of brown hair followed by a face with no nose.

"Krillin? What are you doing here?" I asked in surprise.

"Oh good, I thought you might pull a Vegeta and blow me up or something!" Krillin laughed as he grabbed a hold a small blond girl that was sitting by the edge, wet hair and all.

"That was fun Daddy!" Marron said, "Sneaking up on Verto was funny!" I smiled slightly at the toddler, even though down deep my Saiyan pride was burning hot.

"I didn't expect to see you guys here, until I saw Gohan over at the waterslides. The two boys haven't caused any chaos yet have they? Where are Vegeta and Bulma?" he asked in series.

"On vacation for four days with Goku and Chichi, they left me with a babysitter to watch over. You know what's funny, she turned out to be an android," I explained.

"Yeah that's what Gohan said. So you're stuck with the twin terrors for two more days, ouch! I hope you can find something for them to do for all that time! Especially with Videl hanging around Gohan a lot, I don't know if she'll be able to watch them and him at the same time!" Krillin broke into laughter.

"Yeah, she kinda agreed to watch them," I said, no mentioning the other side of that arrangement.

"Man, I wonder how he roped her into that," Krillin chuckled.

"Actually I did," I admitted.

"I don't even want to know why she agreed."

"And I almost wish she didn't." Marron made a small kick into the water, sending some into Krillin's eye. As he rubbed it out, he got another wicked grin on his face.

"So is Videl looking anywhere near what Gohan described today?"

"That and a bag of chips. I'll tell ya Krillin, sometimes I wish I was older again. I might give him a run for his money over her," I said, blushing and shrugging at the same time.

"Heh, I hear ya kid. But I'm married now, to the woman for me," Krillin said, rubbing his hair slightly.

"You mean bombshell for you right?" I chuckled to his blush.

"Yeah that's her!" As if on cue, another pair of arms grabbed a hold of my stomach and chest, this time not pulling down but surfacing. A shadow appeared an instant later behind my head.

"Well, even attractive boys hang out here!" Eighteen said, humming slightly.

"Mommy!" Marron giggled still holding onto Krillin.

"What are you doing here kid?"

"Videl's idea to keep the boys out of trouble for today, she drug me and Gohan along for the ride," I explained, trying to squirm out of her grip, she was squeezing a little hard.

"Oh god, you're not serious about hoping those two are actually behaving are you?" Eighteen asked.

"No, I'm pretty sure something is going to explode soon," I muttered.

"Kind of like that android you guys fried last night?" Krillin asked.

"What android?" Eighteen asked, catching that mighty quick.

"Does Dr. Gero's daughter ring any bells?" I asked her. The grip on me tightened into an almost vice grip. Krillin plugged his little girl's ears in preparation.

"Yeah, I recall that little bitch. Always sucking up to Gero like he was supposed to be Kami or something. He always favored her to, a disgusting freak is what she was!" I barely heard her words, I was turning blue.

"Hey Eighteen, could you let go, I need to breathe here!" I rasped out weakly.

Eighteen glanced down at was likely a blue face and promptly let go, "Oh, sorry kid." A figure splashed into the water a half second later, revealing Videl as she jumped in next to us.

"And here I find he's in the arms of another woman," she said jokingly.

"Wow kid, I see why you wished you were older again!" Krillin cracked a joke with poor timing. Eighteen held me tight when I threatened to move in his direction. I only stopped because his daughter was still there.

"You really said that? Wow, maybe we could ask that magic dragon you guys use to bring people back to life!" Videl held up her hands in a big smile.

"Don't you even dare," I warned.

A sharp and hard hand smacked me upside my head, "Oh cool it, she was just joking! You don't need to act like that royal pain Vegeta all the time!" Eighteen scolded.

Videl swam closer and giggled some more, "He is acting like Vegeta? He needs to work on his imitation then, Vegeta is much colder than this cutie!"

"_Just please stop, I'm embarrassed enough,"_ I thought at Videl. A loud crash reached my ears, followed by a lot of shouting.

"Great, now what?" I asked.

"Not sure, but I sense Gohan going over there. Goten and Trunks are there as well, that's a pretty good hint," Krillin said. Three more splashes suddenly occurred, being replaced by Gohan holding the two terrors by their necks.

"Okay boys, what did you do?" Videl asked for all of us. When Trunks didn't answer, Goten did for him.

"That mean guy at the gate said we couldn't go down the slide cause we weren't big enough, so Trunks blew up the slide with an energy blast!" Goten admitted.

"Shhh, dummy!" Trunks rasped at him but it was far too late. Gohan sighed along with the rest of us, the day wasn't over either.

**-**

It turned out the man who didn't let them in was just being a bit harsh or something. Both Trunks and Goten were close to forty-six inches tall, the limit for the slide, they were both off by barely an inch. I frowned slightly at that thought, they were both a little taller than me in this state. _ Maybe gravity training stunts my growth or something. _Gohan apologized for them, after having a slight argument with the worker, who had pissed his pants after Trunks blew up the slide. He came back over, scolding the two a bit and telling them to stay away from the slide area. While he was doing this, Eighteen was drilling me with questions about android twenty-one. Mostly her power attributes and abilities. She didn't exactly seem surprised when I described everything, except for the so-called weakness.

"Well, is the other lab destroyed?" Eighteen asked.

"Yeah, Gohan said he blew it up with Seventeen this morning, why?" I asked as I treaded water.

"Good, there was other projects he worked on there, some that made Cell look like Krillin," she snickered at this last thought. "I would have blown it up long ago except I didn't know where it was, just what it held. Seventeen had information like that."

"Well kid, we do need to be heading out. Gotta fly home and get dinner going, hopefully Master Roshi didn't throw one of those old farts reunions. He tends to hire strippers when he does," Krillin laughed slightly before dreading the thought.

"Okay, I'll see you guys later!" I waved at them at Krillin got out of the pool with his daughter in tow. Then Eighteen got out, and that had just about every guy in the area was paying attention. _Damn you Krillin, lucky bastard._ They left a few minutes later, leaving Videl and myself free floating.

"So explain this whole thought hearing thing again? I don't get it," she asked.

"Somehow when you or I actually send transmission to each other, we pick it up, here try one," I said, waiting patiently.

"_So how long until the brats break something else?"_ she asked.

I smiled slightly, "Anytime now, looks like it's still working. But just general thoughts don't come by I guess. Otherwise I'm pretty sure we would hate each other by now," I smirked now.

"I thought you said only you and Gohan could do this cause Piccolo taught you how, how did I pick it up?" Videl asked, confused.

"Yeah, I didn't think you'd be able to use it either, and certainly not with me. Vegeta said you two were starting to bond, do you ever get thoughts from Gohan?" Videl gasped a little bit, but took a second to answer.

"And here I thought I was just imagining it, but sometimes I do hear random things in Gohan's voice, not necessarily directed at me either. Sometimes he's not even in the area and I still hear it. But how can you and I be doing almost the same thing?" Videl asked again.

"I don't know, something happened that's for sure," I said as I attempted to figure it out.

"Hey, is that how you knew I was in trouble last night? You showed up kinda quick!" _She's right; I had that nagging feeling all night before Twenty-one attacked._

"Kind of. After I was done training and went to bed, I had a bad dream, and then I got up and came downstairs. It was like I was supposed to be down there to check on you. I saw everything was fine while you guys watched a horror movie, so I went back to bed, but I still couldn't sleep. I thought I was getting paranoid or something, that dream had felt so real. So I came back down and saw you shoot that energy ball at her the same way you did in my dream!" I explained.

Videl, needless to say, was shocked, "You mean you dreamt that would happen and then it did, like a premonition?"

"It isn't the first time either, I've had those on occasion for as long as I can remember. But that was the first one that actually came true so quickly. You remember when Buu turned you and the others into chocolate right?" I asked this time.

Videl's face scrunched up, "How could I forget?"

"I dreamt about that too, about eight months before it happened. That happened when I was training with Vegeta. It eventually caused me turn Super Saiyan for the first time," I admitted, "And I imagine it'll start happening again here pretty soon."

"Why, what is going to happen?" she asked.

"An alien race is going to invade, or at least I think they will. You remember Dabura, the one who turned Krillin and Piccolo to stone? Well I met him again in Hell, and he warned me about them. The Supreme Kai didn't deny it, so I know it'll happen. I just don't know when," I explained.

"Well bring em on! With you, Gohan, Goku and Vegeta here, no aliens can mess with us!" Videl declared, her face beaming with confidence. I decided to silence myself on the subject of the Zerg for now. I figured I'd have enough time to think about them sooner or later, but now wasn't the time. Another crash went off, causing Gohan's ki to rise in alert and rush to another side of the park.

"Looks like those two did it again, I'm gonna go try to tan for a little while, see ya!" Videl said, climbing out of the pool. I sighed and climbed out as well, heading for the general direction of the twin terrors. I arrived to see Gohan scolding the boys some more, this time two more slides now lay in pieces. According to the onlookers, they ran up the slides in the opposite direction instead of coming down, and ran into the wall of one or the other by accident, causing them to crumble. I didn't bother explaining their super strength, these people had seen enough as it was. Gohan was starting to lose it a little bit, but not quite to the point of overreaction.

After he stomped off again, the little devils decided to visit the wave pool again. I observed them from afar, simply curious. After the wave pool did a couple of rounds without interruption, I thought they might just leave it alone. Naturally they didn't, the next round of waves didn't exactly go like everyone around would have hoped. It was only one wave, disappointing sure, but when the one wave is about fifty feet high and crashes so hard that the force runs into the surrounding pools, well one wave was enough. That and the building that harbored the wave machine was on fire. I identified two blurs rush out of it at near light speed, heading for the perimeter lazy river. I followed quickly on my feet, but not abnormally quick for anyone around me. When I got there, I saw that all of the patrons in the pool had been forced out, mostly sitting on the side getting splashed on a fly by. The boys were flying through the river as high speed, showering everyone in water and looking like a couple of torpedoes made of light. They circled the park a few times before I held out my arms and caught them by their arms. The force drug me along a little bit, but I stopped all motion with my own ki.

"Aw, we were just having fun!" Trunks whined.

"And scaring the daylights out of the humans! Come on, stay in the normal pool for awhile," I said, dragging them along. I arrived at the pool Gohan was wadding in, and tossed the terrors in.

"I guess that explains the fire department being here," he said.

"Yeah, looks like the wave pool won't be working for awhile," I said, jumping in and giving off a decent splash. When I came back to the surface, Gohan shoved a bunch of water at me.

"Hey, you got me all wet!"

I gave him an evil eye, "Well, don't get in the pool then!" I shouted back, throwing a bunch back. That was all it took for a splash war to start. But between a couple of Saiyans, well the people on the grass were not too happy about it. It didn't take long for Goten and Trunks to jump in on the act, forming their own team about it and drenching both of us. Drenching the crowd was hardly the words to use though, most everyone in the pool had gotten out once we started, they really didn't want to be hit by moving water that was generated from the other side of the pool. The huge splash war lasted about three minutes, before we realized what we were doing and quickly stopped, seeing as the water level of the pool had significantly dropped. We held our heads slightly with a bright Son style grin as we were getting out, being returned with massive scowls, or massive shocked looks, depended on the person. We walked back over to the grassy areas, seeing Videl wringing the water out of her hair.

"Nice job guys, you got the snack bars wet and they just put up the closed signs," she sounded almost scornful. A management looking official came in our direction, his sailor looking outfit had seen better days.

"Oh boy, here we go Gohan," I muttered. He came over and sent us a slight glare, but held it in and instead deciding to consult with Videl.

"Miss Videl, I'm afraid I'm going to ask your friends to leave. They are a bit, disruptive," he asked with all the politeness he could muster.

Videl looked at her watch, "Well I suppose it is getting kind of late. Let's head back guys, see if we can whip up some dinner for you!"

Gohan was going to object, but the thought of food overruled his mouth, "Yeah sure!" The manager was left dumbfounded, as Videl had totally ignored what he said. But I could tell by the look in her eye that she didn't like what he said one bit, even with a fake smile while she was capsulizing all her stuff. I suddenly saw a tiny smirk show up before vanishing again.

"_What are you up to Videl?"_ I purposely thought to her.

"Say boys, you wanna go for one last ride through the big swimming pool over there? I wanna see a race between you two, make a tidal wave out of it!" _Oh boy._ That's all she had to do was ask, because the boys rushed down there and did just as she asked. They started at the long end and raced all the way to the end and back, causing a huge wave of water to go up in both directions, twice. Gohan formed a ki shield around himself and Videl while I was left to get another dousing. The boys were back in about seven seconds flat.

"I won! I won!" Goten shouted.

Trunks frowned and shook out his hair, "No fair, you had a head start!" Needless to say, the remaining crowd didn't exactly know what happened. One minute they were fine, the next they were all coughing up water and dripping wet. Over half of them were in the pool again, dragged in when the water rushed back. Gohan was speechless, as was I. Videl snorted slightly, satisfied, and turned to head out the gate door that was being repaired.


	7. Bigger Problems

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 6: Bigger Problem**

We flew back to Capsule corp. quickly, as Videl seemed to be fuming about being asked to leave her dad's own water park, despite the fact that Trunks and Goten had trashed it a bit. But she didn't seem angry with us, just at the park officials. After we landed, Videl demanded we all take a bath to wash out the chlorine. Gohan took off right afterwards, saying he would be back tomorrow and had to get home to study. After she bathed Goten and Trunks, she shot me that angry stare and pointed to the bathroom as well. The boys snickered slightly, dressed quickly and rushed downstairs for their favorite show that I don't care to mention. Videl came in and slammed the door, startling me in the bathtub.

"Something wrong Videl?" I dared ask.

"I can't believe those people!" she screeched, reaching for the shampoo. _Looks like I'm the target listener of the venting, wonderful…_

"Well, they actually asked us to leave. They kinda wanted you to stay," I said, my voice a little unsteady.

"It's not that, I expected that. It was the people that came up to me whenever you guys weren't around. Sharpner was only the first one, calling you guys freaks of nature and dangerous aliens and all kinds of crap like that!" she screeched again as I winced slightly. _Boy, she is really screaming her head off now_, I dared to think out while my ears rang.

I shrugged it off, "Well, we're not exactly normal, I suppose. I was really hoping that they would at least understand us a bit better now after Buu, guess I was wrong."

"Now don't you talk like that, it's their own fault that they're so thick headed. You're not to blame, they are! Why do you think I kicked Sharpner so hard in the nuts, I was stopping him before you did something about it. Then when he grabbed your tail, I figured it would save some looks if I were the one who gave him the toss for calling you a freak, but they still kept it up after that. You probably didn't notice but I could tell just by looking around. Hell, even Erasa slapped the shit out of him when he dared to show his face again. How do you guys put up with that?"

I dared to breathe again once she was done ranting for a few seconds and then attempted to reassure her, "Simple, we have Vegeta to scare them away. This is what Gohan meant by Goten and Trunks not being the masters of control." I apparently didn't say it reassuring enough, as she got even angrier.

Videl gritted her teeth, "So it was a mistake taking you guys there today?" I sensed her extreme anger, but sadness behind it.

"No no," I stood up and held her shoulders with my wet hands, "It was a great time, it really was. It's just hard to hide our powers sometimes. You are right about something though, I would have done something rather, bad. Had Sharpner kept it up, well, I'm glad you saved me the trouble," I said, hopefully calming her down a little bit.

It worked a little too well as she smiled back, "Oh well thank you, I might reconsider asking the dragon to make you older again. Keep it up sweet talker!" She leaned forward unexpectedly and gave me a peck on the cheek. _Should of known that line was coming, she's an unbelievable tease. _I rubbed it off slightly, causing her to laugh before she squirted shampoo into my hair. I turned back around and sat in the water, letting her scrub my hair.

"Are you really serious about being older again Verto?" Videl asked after a few minutes.

"I said I wouldn't mind, but I wouldn't want to waste a wish on it. I don't mind being a kid again, and being an adult was literally a pain at times. But I can wait to grow up, I'll have to anyway," I said sternly.

"Aw, and I was hoping to have some fun before I settled down with anyone. Namely Gohan, poo!"

I smirked at her dismay, "Sorry Videl, you're gonna have to live with me this way for awhile!" I heard muffled sounds over by the door, like someone was out there. I did a quick scan, seeing it was the boys quickly moving downstairs.

"Okay, stand up so I can do the front!" Videl said, smiling. I groaned, _I don't care if I am a kid, this is still embarrassing!_

Interlude 6.1 –Scheming-

Trunks and Goten sat with their ears to the door of the bathroom. They were really hoping that Videl was mad at Verto, but frowned when she wasn't. They did however hear them talking about making Verto older again. Right afterwards, Goten stumbled, dropping Trunks to the ground from his shoulders. They quickly rushed downstairs again, the commercial break was almost over.

"Goten, I have a plan to make him older, you wanna do it?" Trunks asked.

"But I thought he said he didn't want to be older again, and the dragonballs won't be ready for three more months!"

"No, not by using the dragonballs! We don't have to wait that long, and I wanna do it so Videl falls in love with him and makes Gohan mad. Then he's toast for sure!"

"But how Trunks?" Goten asked.

"I know, my grandpa made something that reverses or advances age in all living things. All we have to do is use that!" Trunks claimed.

"You mean we could make him a baby or an old man? I say baby, then we don't have to deal with him!" Goten pouted.

"No dummy, make him a teenager just as old as Videl and Gohan are. She already likes him a lot, this is just taking another step! Even if his power increases a little and he comes after us we can always fuse!" Trunks explained to his absent-minded friend.

"Oh I get it, when do we do it?"

"We can get the device tonight but he'll probably be on guard. We do it tomorrow right after breakfast when he doesn't expect it! He won't even see it coming!" Trunks said as they both laughed sadistically.

-

"I'm afraid I still don't understand this bonding thing," Videl said, washing my back.

"And I do? Ask Vegeta when he gets back," I said as she dumped a glass of water over my head to rinse it.

"There, all done!" She wrapped a towel around me and held tightly to dry the water off.

"Videl, did you forget already?" I asked, powering up slightly to dry the water off.

"Oh yeah, man I need to learn how to do that!" she said with a frown.

"Yeah, let's get some dinner rolling!" I said with enthusiasm. I entered my room and threw on sweat pants and a blue shirt, coming down a half minute later.

As I passed the living room, Trunks and Goten were jumping up and down to the tune of "Pikachu, I choose you!"

"Ugh, let me see that rat for real, just once," I muttered as I went by. I entered the kitchen and found Videl was barking out orders to the robots, who were running around frantically, preparing dinner somewhere in the midst. I elected to stay out of the swarm until it was close to done.

As the food started to pile on the table, Videl sucked up a big breath, "BOYS, DINNER!" Two blurs instantly entered, taking their place and shoveling down food. I joined in a second later, causing Videl to grimace slightly at the sight. The robots barely kept up with the food and cleanup process, though they didn't have much of a head start today. I stretched out in the chair after finishing, satisfied more with the meal filling me up rather than the taste of it.

"Don't you have any shame?" Videl moaned slightly.

"About as much as your father," I blurted out before I could really think that over. CLANG! _Ow, that got the blood flowing. Note to self, be extra careful when losing control of both mouth and thought from now on around Videl._ Trunks and Goten had started laughing, but before I got smacked with the pan, thus earning them a free headache. Taking my losses, I got up, still holding my head slightly.

"Well, I'm going to hit the sack early tonight, we didn't exactly get a good rest last night," I said, still a bit sore from that whole ordeal with Twenty-one.

Everyone stopped moving, "But you never go to bed early, aren't you staying up to make sure we don't get in trouble?" Trunks asked.

"What's the use, you find a way to do it anyway," I said on my way to the stairs. That wasn't my real reason for leaving. I did want to get to bed, but I had a lot to think about. I reached my room a few minutes later, shutting the door and losing my shirt. Lying on the bed, I turned on my music player, loading up the randomizer. _I'll fly out to see Vegeta in the morning. I have to know what the hell is going on with me and Videl._ I didn't have the music that loud, but it was loud enough to not notice someone come in as I stared at the ceiling. Videl stood over me with a worried expression written all over her face.

"You left early because of me didn't you?" she asked. I snapped back into reality when she said that, turning off my music.

"What makes you say that? I'm just tired," I said in slight denial.

"You can't lie worth a damn and you know it, what's wrong?" she asked again, sitting on the side of the bed.

"I'm going to fly out to speak with Vegeta in the morning. I want to know if something somehow happened between the two of us. Vegeta told me that the mating bond is not complete until, conjugation, and that only one can be formed per person at a time. Which does not make sense because you and Gohan already have one going. The only way to stop one according to him is if the male dies or if there's some sort of separation ceremony," I said slowly. The look of horror that Videl had on her face made me regret saying that, she broke into a nasty crying session.

"You're wrong, were just good friends that's all! Don't you even think about killing yourself for me or Gohan! You hear me young man? Don't even think it!" Videl shouted as she grabbed a hold of my shoulders and shook them a little bit. The look of fear in her eye told me to just stop talking. I rose to a sitting position and let her hug me, patting her back slightly.

"Don't worry, that won't happen, I would never do anything like that to hurt you Videl," I whispered.

"You better not," she sniffed slightly, squeezing me a little hard before letting go.

**-**

As Videl left my room after drying her eyes, I felt sick for making her feel so bad. I slowly sagged off to sleep while playing with my tail a little bit out of boredom. In the middle of the night, I thought I heard an alarm go off, but I was in too deep a sleep to care. I awoke with the sun just rising out of the east, noticed that the clock said six-thirty. I yawned and stretched slightly, before the memory of last night poured back into me. I trudged downstairs, walking through the still silent house. It was Sunday, meaning no employees would be here today, not that there were that many in this building anymore. Dr. Briefs moved most of them over to the other building once it was done, and only a few labs remained active. Mom's private lab and the old west wing were a few examples. I walked along to the living room, seeing the TV was on. I saw Videl lying on the couch, passed out. I shut the TV off, the morning run of kiddy shows were just coming on anyway. I stood by the couch, watching Videl sleep. She really did look just as beautiful when she slept as she did when she was awake.

_Oh Verto, how pathetic are you, making her worry about you killing yourself when you were just trying to prevent her liking you too much. You should just take things as they come, not what they are supposedly going to be, _my inner voice of reason said. And it was right, I had nothing to lose if she liked me more than she liked Gohan, it was still just like a big sister relationship. I almost started to cry just recalling what I had blurted out that made her panic. I sat down in front of the couch, cursing myself for my stupidity.

"Forget it, screw the stupid bond crap Vegeta talked about. If that's even what it is. Maybe it's just something she can do as a martial artist. Even if it isn't, who cares? If that's the way it is then too bad! It's not like were upstairs screwing each other's brains out. It wouldn't work anyway, just be a good friend to her," I whispered.

"Ya know, that is about the smartest thing I've ever heard you say," Videl muttered.

I scowled, "You were supposed to be asleep."

"Can't sleep when I have people talking about me right in front of my face," she said real smoothly.

"Oh I see," I replied. She sat up on the couch, only to put her hands under my shoulders and hoist me up there with her.

"Well, sorry for upsetting you last night. I didn't mean it to come out the way it did," I said, keeping my eyes forward.

"You're really sweet when you apologize you know that?" she cooed, playing with my tail that swishing around behind me. I sensed a certain two terrors start to stir and I got off the couch.

"The demons will be down in a sec, I'm gonna get the robots cooking breakfast," I said sharply, but the sense I got from her was better than it was last night. Walking down the hall, I punched in the alarm code to deactivate it, and then punched in a code for an instant breakfast to start up. Instantly the robots started swarming everywhere, prepping pancakes, eggs, bacon, toast, and whatever else came with breakfast for the day. Just as the food began to be placed, the devils walked through the kitchen doorway. _What the hell, they walked in here?_ They sat down sleepily, barely awake from what I could tell.

"Late night?" I asked with a grin.

"Yeah a little," Trunks mumbled.

"Well nothing looks destroyed, let's keep it that way," I said though he barely noticed. He brightened up once the food appeared in front of him, the stomach taking over him. Goten and I joined in as Videl walked in. I hauled down about thirty pancakes and uncountable amounts of eggs and bacon, and whatever else ended up on my plate. The boys nearly choked as usual with theirs, but they got up and excused themselves, something I had never seen before.

"What did you do, invite Chichi over?" I asked.

"No, I didn't do anything," Videl said, just as shocked as I was. The doorbell rang, and Trunks was already there to answer it in the lobby.

"Oh boy, better get in there," I said, jumping up from my polished off meal, Videl chased after.

The door slammed just as we arrived, "Another stupid sales guy," he muttered.

"What did he want?" I asked, not that I truly cared.

"Something about some Jehovah dude's witness or something," he said, walking over to the couch where Goten sat. I noticed Goten was having a little trouble holding a straight face for some reason, but didn't pay much heed.

"So what is the plan today?" I asked Videl, since she was technically in charge.

"Dunno, it's not supposed to be a nice day. So just stay inside figure something out. What do you guys want to do?" she asked the boys.

"We want to do something for you big brother! Will you let us?" Trunks asked, a bit eagerly.

I lifted an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"It's a surprise!" Goten said, backing up his partner. _I hate it when they do this._

"Okay, out with it, what did you two do? Or want to do?" I asked, closed my eyes and holding out my hands. Closing my eyes turned out to be a bad idea.

"Trunks, what is that?" I heard Videl ask. I opened my eyes to see some sort of device in Trunks' hands. It was a pretty good size, and highly technological, and I did recognize it as a Dr. Briefs invention. It resembled a shotgun with a single barrel, only the lights and tubes covering it said otherwise.

"What is that Trunks?" Videl repeated.

"It's grandpa's, it's really cool! It can make things older or younger, watch!" he said, turning the dial. _Its the Ionic Pulser, how the hell did he get a hold of it?_

"Trunks, don't even think about firing that thing, no don't!" I screamed the last part because he did fire it, straight at me. The beam hit and had an instant effect, and I started to glow all over. The first thing I noticed while I was screaming is that my tail grew a bit longer. Then my insides started to burn a little bit, but overall didn't hurt that much, still irritating though. I heard fabric start to tear, and discovered my shirt had just ripped to shreds, and so did my shoes. My pants were Saiyan style spandex, so they wouldn't rip easily. All of the muscles in my body bulged slightly, growing in size. The room started to shrink a little bit, but my vision was distorted by the heavy glow I was emitting. The glow finally quit, but my body shuddered some more, a heavy doze of dizziness hit my head as the room spun slightly. I opened my eyes and looked around before standing up. Trunks and Goten were cowering next to the wall in fear, they looked quite a bit smaller. Videl stood behind me, she looked a bit shorter too, and her jaw was shuddering open and closed at a high rate of speed.

"What?" I asked, noticing my voice had changed dramatically.

"Da, da, da, dude, my brother looks really cool nine years older! But at least he's still gonna be short!" Trunks said in some sort of celebration. I glanced over at a nearby mirror, and face faulted at my reflection. I was bigger, and older, my hair was sticking almost all the way up like Vegeta's except two sharp bangs still hovered over my face, very similar to Gohan's. My pants were slightly torn around the legs despite being spandex, my shirt and shoes in shreds as well. My head was spinning a hundred miles per second, and now I had conflicting thoughts that felt like they were taking over. I noticed Trunks was still holding the Pulsar at his side.

"Trunks, change me back right now. That thing is unpredictable," I said sharply, no doubt my voice sounded more like Vegeta now, scaring him shitless. Goten stopped him and whispered in his ear, causing him to smirk.

"No, I think you look better this way!" Trunks said in defiance. I growled instinctively, causing fear to lighten in his eyes.

"Change me back right now," I repeated, adding a rise in my ki level at the same time. Trunks set down the pulsar, and then held out his palm as if to destroy it.

"No, I don't feel like it." Something inside me snapped at him once he said this. My patience was already thin as it was, and now it had been wiped out. My ki rose impossibly high, and I let my anger fuel me, turning Super Saiyan right away and taking it up to full power. When I did this, the room shook very violently, and the boys had never looked so scared since the Buu fight. When I finally calmed enough to notice how high my power was, I nearly choked myself. _And this is without my moon change or Kaioken, guess I did have something to look forward to, and no training to boot._

I powered down to normal and tried a calmer and more subtle method, "Trunks, please turn me back now."

He snickered again, "Nope sorry, and if you try to get the gun, I'll blow it up!" I felt a sudden urge to either eat raw meat of an animal. That or pound Trunks into the ground, then fry him and eat the remains as a substitute. The only thing that stopped all my raging emotions was Videl. She wasn't helping them though.

She had remained silent to the whole thing, "Hey, calm down, we'll turn you back later. Just stay like this for the day, sound like a deal Trunks?"

He was all smiles, "Yeah that's perfect!"

"Okay, go watch TV boys, let him adjust a bit first. Then maybe you two can fuse and have a good sparring match or something," she said, pointing to the hallway. Trunks bounded off with the Pulser in hand, Goten right after him. I heard a sharp crash a few seconds later, followed by a small pop.

"Trunks, you broke it!"

"Ugh," I stood with my head sagging down, until a hand turned it upwards.

"Hey, it's not all that bad! Well you were wishing to be older a lot, looks like they caught on," she giggled slightly. I sat down on the couch, head held in my hands. I wanted to cry, but I was too angry for it. I still felt like crap though, even as Videl tried to coax me down, but it was no use. Something in my head was going haywire and nothing felt right, and it was starting to drive me mad with mixed feelings about everything. I was quickly learning that going through puberty in ten seconds was not the best thing in the world, especially the aftermath.

"Well, what should we do then?" Videl asked after I was done moping around.

"What can we do," I replied, sounding really pathetic and I knew it.

"Well we could see what Gohan is doing. Wait a sec, well you promised a date with me right? Now it'll be even better! Now we can spend a day together for real!" _At least she is happy_.

"I meant about the whole age thing, he just broke it and the only one who can fix it is Dr. Briefs! That's if he can!" I said in anger, not directed at her though.

"We just wait and see what your mum says I guess, don't really have much choice do we?" Videl asked with an arm holding my upper back a little tighter to help calm me a bit. A ki level showed up outside a half second later, belonging to Gohan.

"Great, here comes the fun," I muttered while Videl opened the door.

"Hey Gohan, um, we kinda need your help. Funny you should show up now," she laughed a little.

"Yeah, I sensed a high power level go up over here but it calmed down pretty quick. It felt almost as high as Gotenks. I came over to see what was going on, and.." he stopped when he saw me on the couch. His jaw quivered, not that I could blame him, I was still shocked about it.

His first words were expected, "WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Do you really have to ask?" I grumbled.

"But how, or what, oh geez! What happened?" he stuttered. _Yep, gonna be a long day_.


	8. The Mystical Cure

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 7: The Mystical Cure**

Videl finished explaining what happened to Gohan, as my body processes felt as if they were running three hundred miles per hour at the time and I sat speechless trying to get them under control with my energy. I wasn't having much luck.

"Figures that the little rats would do something like this. One time Piccolo was watching them and he made the mistake of saying he wanted a cape of a different color, he got a pink one," Gohan muttered.

"Well what are we going to do?" Videl asked.

"I'd say turn him back. But if I'm not mistaken, his body isn't having a very good reaction right now. Another change like that may be permanent damage, or death," Gohan said, adjusting the bang over his eye.

"He's unstable? He looks fine," Videl argued.

"No, I can tell by the way his ki is fluctuating. He isn't having a very good time in there, right Verto?" he raised his voice on the last part, startling me.

I barely heard him, "Yeah, whatever you said."

"I guess we better call Bulma and Vegeta then. I would say this would qualify as extreme emergency, though I think he looks even better this way," Videl giggled. I didn't even look at her, my insides felt like they were twisting themselves around again.

"I don't think he's going to be very cheery Videl, going through puberty in less than a minute would screw anyone up. This kind of stuff should only be done by the eternal dragon," Gohan said.

"I think I'm going to die of insanity here," I muttered.

"Videl, go call Bulma's emergency phone. I hate to break up their vacation now, but I'm not sure his body is going to remain stable. Her dad hasn't tested it on humans yet, and he is all Saiyan!" Videl ran off to get the number and call.

Gohan plopped down on the couch next to me, "You ok?"

I glanced at him, "Not really, this would be the second time my age has been altered. The first time was a breeze, this time isn't so good," I groaned.

"Hey, maybe you should go change clothes or something. Your pants should have expanded for ya, or maybe you just grew too fast for them. You're barely wearing anything as it is. Better change before I get jealous or something," he suggested with a slight grin.

I looked down, seeing he was right about that. "Geez, no wonder she was staring so much. Good plan, I'll be back in a minute." I staggered up the stairs, barely having my bearings yet. I powered up slightly to erase the feeling, and my ki made a temporary fix to the situation. I slammed the door to my room, causing some drywall to fall, and stripped off what was left of my clothes. My boxers had been wiped out too, only my half shredded pants saved me from total humiliation. I dug out a full body suit, thanking Mom that she had copied it so well as it stretched out for me. I had to settle for barefoot though, Mom hadn't made me new boots or gloves that were expandable, and I tended to run through a lot of them. I took a look at myself in the mirror, almost pleased at the result, despite the fact that I was now a little out of whack. I really did look like a cross between Gohan and Vegeta now, at least in the hairstyle. The face was more fearsome like Vegeta's, especially when I gave the mirror a sharp glare. I could have sworn it cracked under the strain. As far as body build goes, somehow I wasn't overly bulky as I might have expected considering how my clothes ripped. I trudged downstairs, overhearing Videl that Mom and Vegeta would be back sometime that day.

"She said to contact her Dad over at the other building, or try to get him here if he's still home. Just in case his condition worsens," Videl finished to Gohan.

"I'm not really concerned about his physical nature, it is his mental state that is going to be a little strange. I almost think that I should have Dad ask the Kais about this and see if they can calm down his mind before it blows up," Gohan said just as I hit the bottom of the stairs.

"Speaking of blowing up, where are the runts?" I asked, announcing my presence, realizing that I almost sounded like a Vegeta twin.

"Hey stud!" Videl chuckled in a semi-serious tone.

"We called Bulma and Vegeta, they should be home sometime today, and we should contact Dr. Briefs," Gohan caught me up.

"Well, mentally I still think I'm losing it. But I'm not a bag of jumping beans right now," I said, sitting on the couch again.

"I'm gonna go see what I can do about getting that Pulser thing away from the boys, whatever is left of it that is," Gohan said, walking out of the room. Videl jumped on the couch, slightly interested in me now.

"So how does it feel to be older again?" She asked happily.

"You want the honest truth?" I asked sharply. Videl became startled and I immediately stopped myself. _My really bad mood swings are back. _The Future Bulma had told me it was because of the slow Saiyan change before, but they were going full throttle now. Granted I wasn't always the most pleasant person thanks to a lot of things, but if I had to stop myself before speaking, well you get the idea. Luckily Videl didn't answer that question, and I didn't either. I sensed someone coming down the hall, the other hallway to the west wing.

"Hey Verto, did my grandson come down here this morning? I've been here most of the night testing the effects of using viruses to slow long term disease and I may have left the main lab door open. And I know he likes to play with some of my newest inventions, have you seen him?" Dr. Briefs yawned, not taking a good look in my direction.

"Yeah he was down there, care to see the results?" I asked standing. The purple haired scientist rubbed his eyes some more, before putting on his glasses and just about having a heart attack.

"Oh my, glad to see my invention works on Saiyans, but I didn't plan on testing it," he said.

"We're not sure about the mental part yet, physically he appears okay. But I'm pretty sure the hormones running wild in there are screwing up his head," Gohan said, coming in carrying two things in his hands. I almost cried when I saw what it was, two halves of the Pulser.

"Come on lad, need to check you out. Follow me to my lab," Dr. Briefs said, motioning for me to follow, "I'll need a blood sample." _That could be ugly. _

**-**

I was happy to see that the good doctor had super strong metal clamps in place around his operating table. Well they were super strong until I broke them. But I couldn't help it, just like the first time. Also kinda like the first time, Dr. Briefs finally got his sample after fifteen tries, and began analyzing it right away.

"Judging by my readout, the age acceleration was a success. However there is still an abnormal amount of chemicals and hormones floating around in there. No doubt that teenage Saiyan hormones are something that can be rather volatile, and your brain wave patterns have made a temporary shift in activity, mostly due to extreme stress. I recommend you take it easy for a few days, lay off the training otherwise you might cause serious damage to your brain. After growing so much in so little time, your body and brain need time to adjust, added gravity probably will not help," Dr. Briefs explained, pointing to his various screens of data.

"Can we turn him back?" Gohan asked.

"I don't advise that. While it may cure his mental state, I don't think his body will co-operate. Nope it's best to wait this one out and stay as he is. Only the dragon should fix this, and that's three months away. He can adjust in that amount of time, but he could easily remain slightly unstable for the rest of his life if he isn't changed back," Dr. Briefs continued, causing me to add more anger to the thoughts of killing two little demons.

"You said the dragon could fix this, could the magic of the Kais do it too?" Gohan asked.

"I wouldn't know young man, never met them, but I wouldn't count it out either. Still best to rest for a few days, take some time off and do non-stressful activities would be the best at this point," Dr. Briefs finalized, shutting off his screen.

"We can do that, easy! This could be the best few days of his new life right Verto?" Videl asked, throwing a supportive arm around my shoulder.

I gave her a slight glance, "Yeah sure." I heard a crash go off, sounded like splintered wood.

"Oh geez, what did they do this time?" Videl asked.

"That wasn't them," Gohan said.

"Three, two, one," I muttered.

"BRATS!" came the shout. _About time._

"Oh, Vegeta's home?" Dr. Briefs asked. I got up off the table all grins and walked out of the lab behind Gohan and Videl, hoping to enjoy what I was about to witness. One thing I finally noticed, I was still kinda short even at seventeen years old again, I was almost the same height as Videl, not including the hair. That was slightly disappointing, but at least I didn't look like I had ten tons of steroids pumped into me either like other Saiyans. I looked pretty slender rather than a more than noticeable muscle build that Vegeta seemed to portray. If anything I may have looked a little skinnier than Gohan, but I felt like a solid rock that could take on anyone. We arrived in the lobby to see Goten and Trunks clinging to the wall, getting a tongue laKibito Kaig from the wives of doom first. They tried to dash away, but then Vegeta had them by the scruff of their clothes.

"Just what were you trying to do, kill your brother?" Mom said, giving Trunks a little slap in the face.

Goten was bent over Chichi's knee, probably getting the worst of it, "Now didn't I teach you any manners?" _Uh, no. _

To my great delight, Vegeta took them next, straight towards the gravity room, "You brats are training all day today, no breaks!" A hand clamped down on my shoulder from behind, revealing Goku with his Son grin attached.

"So, how does it feel to be old again?" he asked cheerfully as I frowned. _I get the feeling I'm going to hear that a lot._

"Miserable." Before Goku could ask another question, I was thrown towards the wall just by Mom coming over, giving me the look over.

"Are you okay? Dad, what was the readout? Can we change him back? Well answer me!" she asked in hysterics.

"Well actually dear, he is physically okay. But he needs to take it easy for a few days, his mental state is something to be concerned with, and he has a bit of a hormonal imbalance going on as well. I don't know if that is natural for a Saiyan or not, but his brainwaves shifted dramatically and shouldn't be put under much more stress," Dr. Briefs warned again.

"Then that settles that, no training for you young man!" she said, shaking a finger at me. I looked down slightly, she knew training was one activity I really enjoyed, and I kinda wanted to test my new strength now.

"Hey Dad, could you maybe visit the Kais about this. I know we can wait three months for the eternal dragon if we want to fix this totally, but Old Kai helped out my mental abilities greatly before the fight with Buu. Maybe that's an option?" Gohan suggested again.

"Funny you should come up with that Gohan, we were just coming for him!" a familiar voice said. We all turned to the door to see Kibito Kai himself standing there.

"My honorable ancestor predicted this would happen, or something like it. He insisted that we release his hidden powers the same way we did Gohan's. That will be a great help in the upcoming events of the next year. Then when you call the dragon to erase the memories of Buu, he is to be returned to his previous age." Kibito Kai explained, completely blowing the situation out of proportion.

"Huh? Wouldn't that be useless then?" Gohan asked. _Okay, I'm officially lost. _

"No, as long as you ask the correct wish, his new powers at the time will remain. The mystic power up that we gave you Gohan, it lasts for a long time. The only way that they vanish is if the person doesn't use train or use it at all for a long time. We want to assist you again in the upcoming future that has been foreseen. This is the best possible way I can think of to start with, my elder agrees," Kibito Kai replied. I was still confused, or the chemicals were clouding me up again.

"Come Verto. You will return tomorrow, fully cured of your mental state and your hidden powers released, and you can train all you like," Kibito Kai offered out a hand.

I staggered toward him sloppily, grabbing his hand, "See you guys tomorrow I guess, man this is real weird."

I was lucky, Kibito Kai's instant transmission wasn't as rough as Goku's was. We reappeared on the Kai planet, where I saw Old Kai reading his typical magazines.

"Glad to see you're here young man, shall we get started then?" Old Kai muttered.

"So this is what you meant by 'your importance is too great?' Isn't it?" I asked, recalling what he had said to me during the Buu fights.

"That is correct, the fight against the Zerg will be no picnic. Nor will the battles that come afterwards for you. This seemed like the best scenario to follow, though it won't be an easy one, are you prepared?" _Funny, I can't really think straight right now and he's asking me this. _

"You have a point young man, allow me to clear your thoughts," Old Kai said, his eye twinkled.

"I really do appreciate you staying out of my head," I said, realizing that I could now think clearly.

"Of course, after we are done! Now then, stand still! It's time for my exercise!" _Oh no, not this!_ I thought in horror. Sure enough the old fart started raising his hands in different directions, and then the dance began about ten feet away, slowly circling me.

He howled with delight, "Stay still now, this sets the groove!" _DAMN YOU TRUNKS!_

**Interlude 7.1 –Punishment-**

"Awe, but Dad! We've been in here for eight hours already, can't we have a break?" Trunks begged his father.

"This will teach you to tamper with another's natural evolutionary state," Vegeta roared, giving his son another good punch in the face. The two had been battling at Super Saiyan, though it was still no contest. On the other side of the room, Goku and Goten were having almost the same conversation, but Goku was a bit gentler about it.

"Okay brats, fuse again!" Vegeta barked.

"No, not again, please dad!"

"Again, I want a decent match this time, you two should be able to take both me and Kakarot as a Super Saiyan three!" Vegeta knew of course they didn't have a prayer, even if Goku and himself remained at the second level. A small knock came from the gravity room door.

"What is it?" Vegeta barked into the speaker.

"The boys need to come to dinner now Vegeta, then you can have them back afterwards okay?" Bulma almost screeched through the speaker.

"Fine woman, but it better be a damn good dinner!" Vegeta reached over and turned the chamber down to normal from where it had been, at two hundred and fifty.

Goku nearly toppled him in the exit, "Food!"

"Ugh, low class idiot!" Vegeta shouted after him.

"So dad, are we gonna turn Verto back to normal?" Trunks dared to ask.

"Not yet son, and when we do we are certainly not doing it your way. We'll use the other wish on the dragonballs, hopefully the Kais can fix the damage you two did. If not, you two will be in here for the rest of your natural lives!"

"What? Darn I wanted to wish for a never ending supply of food!" Goten whined.

"I don't think the dragon can grant that Goten, his power is limited you know!" Trunks argued, both of them forgetting Vegeta's threat pretty quickly.

"Nah, the dragon can do anything, Gohan told me so!" Vegeta didn't follow his son or his black haired counterpart right away; instead he turned his thoughts to his adopted son who was in the heavens somewhere.

_Verto, I'm just glad you survived that little mishap, but your strength will grow more than I thought possible. You may be even more powerful than Kakarot's first brat, and if you are not, you will be if I have something to say about it. I know you are a true Saiyan deep down despite any of your inward human feelings, and perhaps the legend is true after all. It may be time to put him through a test just to see if I'm right._ With that thought into the wind, Vegeta went to the kitchen in search of a delicious meal, made by his rival's harpy mate with a dangerous metal object hidden somewhere.

-

"I don't suppose you're slowing this down yourself with the way you keep reading and watching TV?" I asked, annoyed. Sure I had seen him do this with Gohan too, and it worked, but it still seemed unlikely the way this old coot acted.

"Oh hush, you know the routine! Just stay still and focus on your meditation! I will do the rest!" Kai barked back at me. I sighed slightly and complied. It had been about eight hours since his ridiculous dance ended, marking hour thirteen of the whole charade, just over halfway done according to what I remembered of this. But the way this old fart acted while supposedly training me was appalling. Then again I had seen this pulled off, so I kept my faith in him and shut up for the time being. He only fell asleep once so far, a bit better than I was fairing. He had woken me up twice while I was standing, and three more times while sitting.

"Can't have you sleeping on the job now, though it will help a tad for repairing that damaged brain of yours. Don't panic if you do fall asleep. It'll be because I needed you out at the time," he explained after I nearly fell over the first time. _Strange way to do things, but whatever as long as it works_. I cocked my eye open again, only to see his eyes going up and down at the girls working out on the TV.

"Quick question sir," I said, snapping him back into full grouch mode.

"Make it quick!" he grumbled.

"Now what are the right words for this? How exactly did you know I was going to be turned into an adult again by Trunks and Goten?"

"Good question lad. We Kais have limited abilities to see into the future. When my young apprentice there was blocking off your painful memories shortly before Buu's revival, he was stricken with several visions of the future, one that included you going from young to adult. He shared this vision with me before Buu was killed, and out of that, several future visions were witnessed afterward. We felt it necessary to take certain steps to ensure that peace after Buu's destruction is protected. That is why you are here now. We will have the dragon of earth restore you to your youthful form, but your power will already be released and assuming you voice the wish correctly, it will stay. It may drop a bit, but it will increase your potential greatly. We felt that to be the best way to handle things without directly interfering too much," Kai explained.

I let that sink in for a few moments before another question popped up, "What is so bad that is coming up then, other than the Zerg?"

"That youngster I cannot say, but what I can say is that if you are not around to protect the peace, the entire universe will fall into a void of death and destruction," Kai said, staring back at his TV. _There goes that great importance speech again._

"So what do you know about the Zerg?" I asked, hoping for some insight.

"I thought I would ask you that, you've encountered them before correct?"

My other eye shot open, "No, when did I do that?"

"Young one, I never asked you if you had fought one or seen one. I asked if you have encountered them. It doesn't matter what form they were in," Kai shook his head slightly.

"Well I have heard that term before. I can't seem to recall where from though, something on my planet, but it sure wasn't anything dangerous," I said, trying to pull up that memory.

"Does the term computer game ring any bells?" Kai asked. My mind was blank for a moment, and then it hit me like the heat of an uncooled lava bed. _Oh of course, that old game Starcraft had those Zerg creatures!_

"Well, now you get it. I'm sure you can take it from here on that subject," Kai said, annoyed.

"So these are the same Zerg?" I asked excitedly.

"Just as similar as an idea of am entertainment program regarding everyone's lives here. Things and creatures of that magnitude have been known to leak into other realities and dimensions countless times as just simple thoughts. Some things that are not real here may be natural aspects elsewhere, it's all part of a huge puzzle. Now that should be enough for now, we're slowing down the process, and I'd much prefer to get my nap in after this is done!" Old Kai said as he turned away. _Well, that little tidbit helps a lot, glad I came here now._

**-**

Another hour passed by quickly in meditation. I managed to shun all my excited ideas so I could get the power raising done. Kibito Kai strolled over from he had been sitting and watching, bored to death now. I personally thought his fusion between himself and Kibito would make a stricter and bossy Kai, I was proven wrong. It seemed to make a better person overall, he actually smiled a lot more, and you could actually talk to him without getting a lecture or an end of the universe speech. He did seem a little clueless like Goku now though.

"So how is it going?" Kibito Kai asked, getting an immediate glare from his elder.

Old Kai growled at him, "Fine till you showed up, now I have to rearrange those two molecules again!" _I don't even want to know,_ I decided, and remained focused on the task.

"Is his inner strength just as strong as Gohan's?" Kibito Kai dared to ask.

"That is a hard question to answer young Kai, I didn't have time to release all of Gohan's inner power, and some of it can only be released by him anyway. This boy is similar, but his power will rival Gohan's very well, especially before he returns to his youthful state. Afterwards he'll be weaker again, but then he will progress a little more naturally," Old Kai explained. _Well that is good to know. _

"Well isn't it time you got going kindergarten Kai? You need to see King Yemma about what we discussed," Old Kai snapped at him.

"Oh that's right, I need to get those souls ready for stasis! I'll be back soon sir," Kibito Kai said, running out of the area and teleporting out.

"Somehow, I don't think I really want to know," I muttered once he was gone.

"No, nothing important to you right now. Will be soon enough though," Old Kai muttered, before launching into a curse fest about how John was supposed to marry Martha, some soap opera he was watching. I sighed, _Eleven hours to go._

**Interlude 7.2 –Discovery of Life-**

"How long is that purple headed old coot going to hold Verto up there? I would like to do some testing!" Bulma screeched, much to the dismay of the Saiyan Prince's ears.

"Patience woman. If luck holds the boy will come back more powerful than ever, and completely stabilized from what Trunks did to him," Vegeta snorted slightly at his mate's stomping.

"Well he better, or heaven forbid I'll plaster his head in with Chichi's skillet!" Bulma stomped around the table, swinging the metal object at the air.

"Woman, how long did Kakarot's brat say this took?"

"Gohan said it took him twenty-five hours, a little more because of Gohan's inner power, but that was about right," Bulma said in curiousness, "Why?"

"We have to assume it could take twice as long. Not only to fix the damage that may have been inflicted to the child's mind, his inner power is deep. Maybe even as deep or deeper than Kakarot's brat, we'll see," Vegeta almost sounded excited. Bulma didn't really respond, she just wanted her adopted son to be back in her arms, young or old, she cared for him just as much as she did Trunks.

Suddenly she felt slightly ill in the head, "I'll be right back," she said, finding the nearest bathroom. Vegeta watched her stagger slightly, sensing an unusually high ki level for her, one that was fluctuating slightly. He soon picked up a distinct scent coming off of her. _Oh great, as if one brat and an adopted brat wasn't enough, _he sighed. Bulma came back a few minutes later, her mouth fresh after brushing her teeth. She grabbed her purse and started for the door.

"Where are you going woman?" Vegeta asked.

"To the medical wing, I need to run some tests on DNA samples that Dad collected on Verto," she said without turning around.

Vegeta cleared his throat, "Why are you really going there?"

That stopped her dead in her tracks, "To run some tests I said!"

"No need, you're positive," Vegeta smirked slightly.

"_I still wonder how you do that,"_ she thought back at him.

"_Advanced Saiyan senses, I could pick that up a mile away,_" he answered.

"So how long do you think then?" Bulma asked verbally.

"Six months, same as Trunks," Vegeta said, turning on his heel and walking towards the gravity room. He stopped momentarily, "Bulma, have you worked on that spare time machine lately?"

"Not since the fight with Buu, why?"

"Upgrade it if you can, I have a feeling we will have a use for it soon," Vegeta said.

"Why would we need that?" she asked. Vegeta didn't answer, giving Bulma the go ahead to work on it anyway. Vegeta walked past the living room area, where his purple haired son was watching morning cartoons, yelling and screaming at it from time to time.

"Brat, it's time to train!"

-

_Only one hour to go, only one hour to go,_ I convinced myself, though the feeling of sitting still for so long was beyond beginning to get to me. Ever driven a car for twelve hours with nothing but the traffic? Double that boredom and its about right. I began to wonder why I hadn't cramped up yet, but no doubt it would take several days before that happened in my Saiyan body. We passed the twenty-five hour threshold not long ago, but Old Kai explained that we required three additional hours to finish up. That included last minute tweaks, not to mention the added time to heal my mind, which was functioning quite satisfactory now. The time was going a little smoother now, and I was allowed to sleep about eight hours in stasis. This kept my progress going and kept me sitting up while my mind rested after being healed. I awoke to the sounds of laughter from Old Kai, reading a rather large stack of comics he had set out. This continued on, and now he was on the last comic, and he looked eager to read the ending. I said nothing, just wanting this to be over so I could go home.

"I'm back sir!" Kibito Kai shouted loudly as he teleported in, getting a slight growl of annoyance from Old Kai.

"Everything was taken care of successfully sir, just as you directed," Kibito Kai strode up happily.

Old Kai snapped at him, "Yes I know that young Kai! Now please be quiet, we are in the home stretch here!" Kibito Kai held his tongue for a few more minutes. Old Kai suddenly tossed his magazine aside, arranging both his hands before me again, and seemed to be in deep concentration now.

"What is it sir?"

"Another barrier of power, just as I thought. I came across this with Gohan as well, which is where I stopped. The initial one Verto had was erased when he was changed into a teenager, but this one is just like the one I saw within Gohan. My abilities cannot crack this, Verto must do this on his own, just as Gohan will," Old Kai said.

"What are you two talking about?" I asked as I cracked an eye open.

"Nothing of your concern lad, not at this time," Old Kai said.

"A lot of that going around today," I muttered.

"Okay, two more little things here," Old Kai said, "You might feel a strange sensation in just a second." He was right, something clicked in the back of my mind and somehow I knew he was done.

"There, that should do it," Old Kai said as he dropped his arms.

I opened both eyes, "You mean you're done and I can go?"

"Yes, now get lost!" Old Kai grumbled, turning back to his comics. I stood up quickly, with every intent of testing my new power right then and there.

"So, I just attempt to become a Super Saiyan right?" I asked.

"Yes yes, now hurry up and do it, your going to anyway!" _Well, he asked for it._ I powered up slowly, trying to get a feel for the new power. Not finding it yet, I kept going, and started to fuel the slightly angry thoughts that required a transformation. Then everything stopped, and my emotions held as well, as if time itself had stopped for everything except my mind. The Kais even stopped moving and breathing, the skies around me turned a deep shade of blue. I felt within myself that I didn't have to rely on anger to reach my new level like I had Super Saiyan. Something told me that this power could come from all emotional states: Happiness, anger, sadness, suffering, joyfulness, love, arrogance, confidence and hatred, among countless other emotional states, the medium of all was content. In other words both negative and positive energy would work out, rather than just negative all the time. It also felt like the different emotions might do different things, but I wasn't sure. _Incredible, no wonder Gohan didn't have to tap into his rage when he powered up like this the first time, it all makes sense now_. _I'll get used to this pretty quickly._

I felt my ki surge suddenly and grinned slightly. With that in mind, time resumed to flow, and I cranked up the power more normally. Lightning crackled around me, as well as in the sky. Old Kai had already been thrown into the air, Kibito Kai was getting blown back a little bit as well, before he flew up to rescue his elder. I could feel ki power like never before, and a new mastery of it all came with. My hair stood on end a little bit, but I couldn't detect a golden power emitting from me like before, not that I expected one. I surged forward to my maximum in this state, eager to measure it for myself. When I finally reached it, the nearby mountains blew away, the trees had already been long gone. My aura remained white and silver, blue and green lightning streaked by occasionally, mostly around my arms and legs though. Once I hit my limit, I dropped the aura, looking at my hands a little bit. The new power felt intoxicating, but at the same time understanding and familiar, like it had been at the tips of my fingers the whole time.

"Wow," I managed to say.

"Well, this time you won't be risking destruction when you fight at this level, unlike last time," Old Kai said, brushing off his clothes.

"Unlike last time?" I asked.

"Ugh, silly Saiyan, do you recall the last time you felt this much energy running through you?"

"Yeah, a little bit, but I was just acting in desperation at the time. It was when I used a triple Kaioken while a Super Saiyan. I did it to rescue Vegeta so Goku could throw the spirit bomb. I was a bit on fire at the time, before Buu crippled me again, but at least it worked," I shrugged slightly.

"Well now you can fight fully at that level. In time you will tap into more of your power slowly, like Gohan is now. However you must know two things, first of all, you cannot change into a Super Saiyan now. The mystic form is better than it anyway and does not require extreme rage. Secondly, you cannot transform into your ape form any longer, I took that little ability away from you. Try all you like, it will not work," Old Kai said sharply.

"But why?" I asked, looking at my tail as it unwrapped itself in surprise.

"Two things. One, I simply don't know if it would work. Second, if it did work, there's a very likely chance that you would lose control of yourself. Not to mention the power would more than likely destroy the planet you are one from just one surface-to-surface ki attack. So I took the precaution and removed that transformation gene in your DNA. I have reworked everything to balance it out though, fear not," Old Kai reassured me. There wasn't any doubt to his words either, not after what he just did, and that fact became a bit clearer as I no longer felt the need to tear apart some random animal and eat it's insides. I was more in control of the beast now. Just for the hell of it though, I formed my fake moon ball in my hand and shot it into the sky. Once formed, I stared directly at it and merely blinked. Old Kai was correct, absolutely nothing happened, except that I had to squint a little bit.

"Okay. One more question, can I still use the Kaioken technique?"

"Oh that, if you need to yes, but I doubt you will for a long time. By all means be prepared to use it if needs be. Now get out of here, I need my beauty rest!" Old Kai shouted, not that I minded, I wanted to get going too.

Kibito Kai held out his hand, "Let's go Verto, I think a few people would like to see you back now!"

**-**

Almost upon arrival I was bombarded with questions and statements from Mom, Vegeta, Videl, Chichi, Gohan, Goku and the two twin terrors.

"It's about time you came home son!"

"Brat, gravity room now! I want to test those powers!"

"Wow, doesn't he look good now!"

"Gohan, you have some competition for Videl! Win her over!"

"Mom!"

"Wow! What a power increase! Can we eat now?"

"I'm hungry too!"

"Oh man, I hope he doesn't still want to kill me now!" Trunks said lastly. I stared at the group as they stared back at me, some with glares, some with fear, some with smirks. Kibito Kai left in a big hurry, he didn't want part of this. _Mental note, I have a Kai to kill._

"Whoa, one at a time!" I said, holding my head slightly.

"Well how did it go?" everyone asked at once. _There's one at a time for ya, me and my big mouth! _

"Successful, my mind is repaired and Old Kai released some of my inner power just like he did Gohan," I started, waiting for the next round.

"What do you mean by some, I thought he released it all?" Goku and Gohan asked.

"No, according to him, both of us still have some to release on our own. He said that would take a great deal of time though, he took you to your limit just like he did me. Now all we need to due is restore my age by use of the dragonballs in three months. Although I don't feel so weird anymore," I explained. That seemed to do it for Goku, Gohan and Vegeta, the prince though headed back towards the gravity room.

"Come there when you're done brat!" he called back. Mom though, she was just getting started. First she went into a fit about how she and Chichi had to go get all new clothes and make some new Saiyan jumpsuits for me since I had grown a bit in size. This was before she noticed the mystic side effect that had gotten Gohan as well.

"Hey Verto, do you realize you and Gohan almost look alike now?" Mom said. Videl and Chichi gasped, as Gohan and I looked each other in the eye, then compared in the mirror. Aside from slight facial differences, and more of my hair stuck up and straight back like Vegeta's. I had two bangs that stuck up in front unlike Gohan's one, but we looked almost the same. There was one major difference though, Gohan was about a foot taller, where as I was just about Videl's height, not including my hair, and I was most displeased at this. Videl was shorter than Vegeta was, by about three inches, again not including the hair.

"Wow Videl, which one are you going to pick again?" Goku joked.

"Of course she's going to choose Gohan! Verto is a sweet kid, but he is still just a kid. This is just a sidetrack, and they don't look that alike, I can still tell my boy apart," Chichi huffed slightly, turning her back to us.

"Now Goku, we need to get going home now. I planned on cooking a meal for the family tonight so my dad will be over there soon, and little Goten is still grounded. Come along Gohan, you're attending as well!" Chichi said, grabbing my arm and dragging me to the door.

I widened in shock, "Uh, Chichi?"

"Hey Chichi, I thought you could tell them apart?" Mom said, laughing slightly. Chichi turned and looked at me, realization hit her quickly as we were pretty much the same height.

"My apologies, Gohan, let's go!"

"Yes mother," Gohan muttered.

"Videl, you're invited to come as well, in fact I insist! You need to spend time with your future husband you know!" Chichi roared in her direction now. Videl was face fixed on me, then Gohan, then me again, before shaking confusion away and heading for the door.

"Bye Verto, don't beat up Vegeta and Trunks too badly!" Goku called back, getting a slight look of fear from Trunks. As soon as the crowd was gone, Mom took her chance to embarrass me, but inside the house wasn't too horrible.

"Well, I suppose I could put up with this. Feeling any extra needs kido?" she asked with a tight grin. I groaned, Trunks did too, but he was more confused for the moment.

"I could design a robotic girlfriend for ya, though I'm sure you would break it pretty fast," she commented, getting a louder groan.

"No thanks mom, really," I said, giving up on the subject.

She didn't though, "So, you're going to be altitude challenged just like Vegeta is. Oh well, short guys are just as good as tall ones. Sometimes better, I would know!" _Well I can see this trend at its source._

"Mom, you're talking gross again!" Trunks whined.

"Quiet Trunks, go watch TV!" she ordered.

"I thought I was grounded?" he asked.

"Trunks, do I have to repeat myself?" He didn't give an answer, instead a cloud of dust remained from where he was.

"Well, I'm just glad you're okay, though I'm a bit disappointed that you turned out short. Did you turn out that way in your other life?"

I nodded in slight dismay, "Well this wasn't exactly natural. And back then I wasn't really done until I hit twenty. And why are you staring at me like that?" I asked when Bulma's eyes didn't stop shifting.

"Oh it's nothing. Now I did want to run some tests once you got back, but Vegeta stopped me from doing so. He said it wouldn't be worth it or something, doesn't matter I guess. I got all the information I needed from the old test samples," Mom said, a bit slow at the start.

"What do you mean he stopped you? Did he not want them done or something, that never stopped you before," I said, curious.

"Oh that and something came up," she said, blushing slightly. I figured I knew what it was, until an odd aroma filled the air. It was faint and hard to pick out, but it was there, my nose didn't miss it. And even though I had never smelled it before, I somehow knew what it was, like I had been around it many a time. That and her ki was higher, and fluctuating just enough to pinpoint why.

"You're pregnant aren't you?" I asked. She nodded, sitting on the couch and holding her palms together. I sat down as well, watching her for panic.

None came, "So you picked that up too, it must be really noticeable. I'm surprised Goku and his family didn't catch on. Vegeta noticed right away, he said it happened during our little trip, which would make sense," she trailed off at the end.

That reminded me of something, "Guess that's why the Trojan Man guy showed up," I chuckled.

Mom looked at me with a horrified face, "They still showed up? I thought after Vegeta blew them all up that they would stop coming!"

"Well, add another casualty to that list. Trunks blew that one up, one of many blast marks for that night."

"You're referring to the incident with the android? Why didn't you try to contact us? Goku and Vegeta could have come quickly ya know!" she said sternly.

"Well, I can't describe it, but I discovered the problem in a premonition. I had to save Videl right off the bat and I had this nagging feeling that I had to the entire night. Even as the android deceived us, even as I was telling myself I was paranoid. I had a bad dream about Videl getting killed by her, and a bit later the same events started to occur, except I stepped in just in time," I said in wonder.

Mom giggled, "You started some kind of special connection with Videl sweetie, and I think it's a Saiyan thing. But I don't see how, Vegeta said you could only bond as mates to one person at a time. If what you say is true, then Videl is bonded to both you and Gohan," Mom started to get confused now too.

"No, I'm sure it wasn't that, at least not specifically. I was going to ask Vegeta about all this once you guys got back, and this thing with her didn't start after my little change here, it was before," I explained.

"You're right, it can't be that. Or at least I don't think so, ask him. I'm going to fix you some dinner, no doubt your starving after being stuck up there with the Kai's for a day and a half!" Mom skipped off towards the kitchen quickly. I got up a minute later and headed for the gravity chamber.

-

"About time boy, I thought the panels would start falling off due to old age," Vegeta chuckled at the reference he just made to me.

"I guess you would know all about that wouldn't you?" I grinned back.

He took it in stride, "Let us begin."

"Before we do, I have a few things I need to know," I said, finding the correct wording to put this into. After I told him of what was occurring between Videl and myself, before Trunks screwed everything up, he looked slightly puzzled.

"That doesn't make much sense boy, but then these bond things never do. Now I know for a fact that the Satan girl already started a bond with Kakarot's first brat, they will mate eventually. What you're telling me about thought transmissions sounds almost the same. Something I know for sure though is that unless the Saiyan is mature, he or she cannot mate. Maturity does not happen until the age of nine zurals, or eighteen earth years. A zural is a year on planet Vegita, which is about two earth years. According to the woman's readout, your blood is now about seventeen and a half years, give or take a few months. Now you said you could hear each other's thoughts correct?" Vegeta asked.

"Yeah, but it was strange. I had to be directing them at her before she noticed, and as far as I know the same went for her. So it was like Namekian telepathy, I actually had to direct the thought to her. It is my belief that whatever caused this helped me save Videl from the android," I explained.

He held up his hand suddenly, "Hmmm, well it does not have anything to do with mating. She admitted to you that she had been hearing Gohan's random thoughts correct? Then it must be something like a bond of trust or friendship, which must be how you knew to save her at just the right time. I have only met a few Saiyans that have gone through this. All I heard about it was that it was similar to a warrior's bond in that both participants could communicate telepathically, and one had saved the other's life a time or two. It doesn't matter if the debt was returned. I'm drawn to a warrior's bond with Kakarot, something I am not too thrilled about myself. It's basic characteristics are the same, except in our case we started out as rivals, but eventually join forces enough times that we are permanent allies. I didn't truly realize this bond had been put in place until we had fused. As for you, you have nothing to worry about, and besides, I wouldn't want you mating with that Satan girl anyway," Vegeta smirked slightly, dropping into a fighting stance.

"You're more worthy to mate with a Saiyan anyway. And if one doesn't turn up, then maybe I'll reconsider that; until then, no mating with any humans, Got it? Now let's see how high that power is!" he smirked. I smirked back, he knew I was dying to show off in front of him, and I knew he was dying for a good sparring match, I slowly started to release my power.

**-**

Two hours later, Vegeta and I emerged from the gravity room, both of us a little beat up, mostly exhausted though. We both bore smirks at each other, but I was sure his was bigger. That didn't make much sense; as he had yielded to me for the first time. Vegeta and I nearly went all out with it, the thrill of a challenge overtook our minds. I'm still not sure if he really enjoyed having to pump up to Super Saiyan three to match my power or not, but deep down I'm sure he was happy with it. Had I been used to all the power I had, I might have beaten him sooner. As I was adjusting though, I let the match drag on a bit. Vegeta wasn't that far behind me in terms of pure power until he had to power down again. The instant I came out, the smell of food put me into autopilot, and I practically floated to the kitchen. Vegeta followed, I heard his stomach growling a bit as well. Mom was directing the robots to hurry up and set everything out when we came in, a bit out of breath.

"Well?" she asked.

"Well, if I didn't see it and fight it with my own body, I would not have believed it. The boy finally beat me in a sparring match," Vegeta said, half of pride, half of distaste.

His wife dropped the plate and it crashed to the floor, "Say that again?" She had every right to be shocked, I had never beat Vegeta in a sparring match, never. Then again, that was before Buu, and we hadn't had a decent match since then. Nor had I even attempted to transform into my ape form other than the fight with the android.

"Yes, the boy has incredible power. It was worth training him," Vegeta said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Well, you finally defeated me in there! I told you long ago you would not train yourself until you did. I didn't think you would be able to do so for a long time. Consider yourself off the hook for now!" he admitted. I smirked slightly at the idea of not having to listen to him bitch about training and drag my ass in there, but then again, it had been enjoyable.

"Allow me to put myself back on the hook then. It wasn't a real battle anyway, so it doesn't count. I have always enjoyed training under you Vegeta, and I always will," I said, letting go of that wonderful idea.

"Mistake number one boy! Don't ever talk back to me," he said in a threatening tone, "However, it would be a great honor to me to continue training you, you have made me proud. May the moonlight of Vegeta shine upon you always, and may the blood of your enemies fill the ground!" Vegeta raised a glass in a slight toast. I wasn't quite sure how to react; Mom sure as hell didn't either.

"That is an official and formal toast on Planet Vegita. A couple of them anyway, fit for a true Saiyan such as you," he smirked slightly.

"Okay, who are you and what did you do with my husband?" Mom asked jokingly.

"Right here. And by the way, you owe me that new program now!"

"Oh damn, you're right!"

"A bet?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, the woman wanted to bet that you wouldn't last to beat me in a sparring match, ever, and you know I don't let people win. The bet was for that new hologram program I came up with," Vegeta crossed his arms in victory.

"Guess I'll be busy now," Mom muttered.

"Hey, Old Kai explained something to me about this little change. He said that he took away my ability to transform at the moon, saying it was too dangerous to keep and I would not be able to control it. Still don't know how he did it, but whatever. I tested that little theory too, nothing." I explained. Vegeta seemed to accept this, Mom looked relieved.

"Can you still use the Kaioken technique?" Vegeta asked.

"Yeah, that's a technique," I reminded him.

"Good, always nice to have something like that on hand. I guess the next thing to work on is adapting yourself to the strains of that added on to your current power level," Vegeta said. Food was placed out, and the robots grabbed the chairs and pulled them back, giving me the go ahead to dig in.

"Damn, that sure didn't change!" Mom said when I made a plateful of food vanish in about three seconds.

**Power levels: **

**Verto (child): 55,000,000; SS: 185,000,000**

**Verto (teen): 160,000,000; SS: 385,000,000; Mystic: 520,000,000**

**Vegeta: 83,000,000; SS3: 500,000,000**

**Mystic Gohan: 525,000,000**

**A/N: Meant to post some of these last chapter, but didn't feel the need. As for why I posted Gohan's, just read the next chapter.**


	9. Gohan's Favor

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 8: Gohan's favor**

"Kamehame, HAAA!" Gohan and I both shouted, shooting our ki beams at each other. It had been nearly a week since Old Kai had given me the mystic power up. Gohan approached me for a sparring contest the following morning. I wondered how he pulled this off with Goku and Chichi, after all it was Wednesday morning. Surprisingly, Vegeta stayed out of it and gave me the go ahead, as I thought for sure he would demand to come along as well. Our ki beams collided and formed a massive ball of it in the air, lighting up the twilight sky. We kept pouring energy into the struggle until the ball touched ground. We powered down and stopped the beam, keeping the damage minimal.

"Well, seems Dad and Piccolo weren't kidding, you really are just about as strong as me," Gohan shook his head slightly. We had been beating each other up in friendly competition for the past two hours. Gohan was trying to go easy on me, and got a rude awakening when he did. But his heart wasn't completely into it, I could tell.

"So why did you want me out here anyway Gohan? You can't tell me that it was just to spar with you! What did you want?" I asked, floating closer to him from afar.

"Damn, nothing gets past you, I actually need a favor of you," he said, looking like he was dreading the subject.

"What is it?"

"You know that so called date you're supposed to have with Videl in return for her helping with the boys, well I kind of need you to do that tomorrow night," Gohan kept his eyes low.

"Why so particular?"

"You see, there's a girl at school that is having trouble with her boyfriend. So she asked me to go on a fake date with her at his favorite restaurant to make him jealous and want to get her back. And," Gohan explained sheepishly.

"And you don't want Videl to know about it at all. I see, I suppose I could handle that. I sure don't have any special plans other than training all year," I said with a grin.

"Thanks Verto, I owe ya one," Gohan said, shaking my hand a little hard.

"Quick question though, where are you eating at?" I asked.

"Some place called O'Flanders, its in Satan City," Gohan said, trying to think that one up.

"Well, you know Videl, she likes Satan City more than West City. What side of town is it on, so we can try to avoid it?"

"Eastside I think."

"Good, I'll stick to the west end of things. Just in case, keep your ki level lowered. She's beginning to master that you know," I warned.

"I will Verto, thanks again. I gotta get going, Mom will have a fit if I don't eat breakfast and leave for school on time!" Gohan waved slightly and powered up for flight. In the distance I saw the sun start to rise on the other side of the mountains. I set off in the other direction, no particular hurry, I knew what to expect when I got home anyway. _Somehow, I know this is gonna get ugly._

**-**

I called Videl that night, but I had a slight problem getting her number. Unfortunately the person I didn't want to talk to came to the phone. I sighed slightly, rubbing my sore ribs, Vegeta had paid attention to those a few times today after I bashed him in the head one too many times.

"Satan residence, home of the strongest in the world!" the butler answered.

I heard some shouting on the other end, "Hey, it's strongest in the universe, got that tubby?"

"Excuse me, strongest in the universe!"

"Right, is Videl home?" I asked, giving the phone a strange look. Then I heard Satan ranting and raving a few seconds later.

"Is that another guy for Videl? Hey you little young punk, you gotta be stronger than me to go on a date with my daughter!" Satan practically screamed into the speaker. I waited a few seconds for the ringing in my ears to go away before I spoke again.

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind when you're running from Majin Buu," I said, knowing that would get his attention. The phone clicked for just a second, telling me that the speaker had been shut off and Satan had moved to a private phone.

"Uh, is this Goku's kid?" Satan asked.

"Heh, no, sorry. Here's a hint though, can turn into a hairy ape like creature and has a tail," I chuckled slightly.

"Oh, you know that boy Verto do ya? Yeah he's one strong and brave kid, I was just like him at my age.." he started to ramble.

"Hey, it is Verto! Didn't Videl tell you about my little accident last week?"

"Uh, I didn't see Videl last week. I had a fanfare to go to in East City," Satan said, causing me to frown even deeper.

"Don't make me come over there," I warned.

"What? I didn't see her last week and.." I didn't bother listening to the last part, I had already flown out the door. I took off at a quick pace towards Satan city, figuring this would be about the only way to get the moron's attention. That and I already tried telepathic contact to Videl, with no answer. Vegeta had mentioned that we probably would not hear each other's thoughts unless we were close. It took about fifteen minutes to get there, though the wind was a little strong. I landed at the huge Satan mansion and knocked on the door. Sure enough, the butler answered and I could still hear Satan talking to the phone about one of his supposed great moments. I realized I had accidentally left my tail unwrapped, and quickly put it back in it's waist position when the butler turned around before letting me in.

"Sir, your acquaintance on the phone is here," the butler said, in full recognition that Satan didn't even hear him.

"..And that's how I defeated Cell during the Cell games. And guess what else? Hey, are ya still there kid?" he asked. I let him look at the phone for a minute or two, waiting for him to slam it down. He still had his back to me, making the surprise a bit more amusing.

"Stupid young punks!" Satan shouted a minute later, letting the phone have it, and promptly breaking it.

"I'd hate to see what happens to telemarketers then," I cracked, laughing a little bit.

"Hey kid, who are you? You look like that kid Verto Briefs, but he's a tiny thing! Not to say you aren't tiny yourself, but he's even smaller than you. Why I bet you're not even as tall as my daughter!" Satan stuck out his chest.

"Do I have to drill it into your head, you old fool?" I asked, lighting a ki ball in my hands and letting him get a good look at it.

"Oh, sorry Gohan, I didn't recognize ya there. Funny, I thought Videl's boyfriend was taller than this, you're mighty short." I was now about two seconds away from blowing the vein that had expanded on my forehead.

"I'm not Gohan you idiot! I'm Verto!"

"Hey Videl, that skinny punk Gohan is here to see you!" Satan roared, causing my ears to hurt.

"Argh, that'll do," I muttered, grabbing a seat on the couch and folding my arms in. _Well I suppose I can't blame him, Chichi screwed it up too, but any more short jokes and Buu won't be able to regenerate him._ I sensed Videl move around upstairs in a frantic dash, before racing down what must have been five flights of stairs.

She came dashing in, "Gohan, where's Gohan daddy?"

"In the main room pumpkin," Satan said, before exiting to other parts of his huge house. Videl came racing in, but stopped short, I could hear her taking a few deep breaths. She came around the corner without looking, a bright smile on her face.

"Gohan you're here!" she said with her eyes closed.

I rolled my eyes slightly, "Wrong person." Her eyes snapped open faster then a frog tongue catching a fly. She also seemed mildly disappointed, which made me feel relieved.

"Verto? Then where's Gohan?"

"Probably at home studying, your numbskull father mistook me for him," I explained.

"Why didn't you just call?"

"I did, your dad got into one of his how I beat everyone speeches. I figured flying would be faster than hanging up on him. Hell he was still talking into the phone when I got here!"

"Oh, so, what's up?" she asked.

"You got any plans on Thursday?" I asked.

"Tomorrow? No, not now! I wanted to study with Gohan at his house, but he suddenly changed his plans and said he had to train with his Dad. I want no part of that, so I'm free now," she said, a little flustered.

"Well, I do owe you a date, say after school on Thursday?"

"Really? Okay, meet me here then at about five, we'll get some dinner. Maybe catch a movie, we'll have all kinds of fun!" she said, hopping onto her father's black leather couch next to me.

"Alrighty then, here at five, I suppose I can get off the hook from Vegeta by then and get cleaned up. I'll eat my dinner first though, don't want to embarrass the great Videl Satan with my eating habits," I said sarcastically. It got me a clean punch to the arms, not one that hurt of course, just noticeable.

"So did you ever talk to Vegeta about that bond thingy you told me about?" she asked. I grinned and decided to tell her by using the subject.

"_Yeah, he said not to worry. It's impossible for two Saiyan males to bond with the same female as a mate at the same time._"

She cocked an eyebrow at my sudden change in speech, "Aw, what a shame, I was hoping you two might fight for me now," she giggled slightly.

"Hey, I'm only gonna be this old for a few months, then it's back to the toddler size," I shrugged.

"Which isn't much of a difference now anyway," she noted.

My eyes flashed with fire, "Low blow, I see your posy father taught you well." Another punch to the arm, I was starting to get concerned she might break her hand if she punched any harder.

"So, anyway, don't you do anything besides train over there?" she asked.

"No, not really."

"Man, how boring! No school, no fun at all. Just train train train with the same grumpy Saiyan prince all the time?"

"Yeah that's about right. Since I'm a Saiyan, I do get some enjoyment out of it. Here pretty soon Mom will have a hologram designed for fighting. Something I've been waiting for myself, and I know Vegeta's been waiting for awhile too," I said.

"Well, no training for you tomorrow night! We're gonna go out and have a good time!" _Thanks for the warning._

"I heard that!" she screeched a grin by me.

"So what movie, I'm not very familiar with the ones here, anything good?" I asked, then wanting to retract it right away.

"Depends on what you like," she said, beaming. _Great._

"Action, adventure, comedy, horror flicks, that's my usual range," I said quickly.

"Oh darn, I was going to pick a romance!" she joked, at least hopefully.

"Whatever you pick I guess, where are we eating? Though most of my dinner will be at home?" I asked.

"Haven't decided yet, I'm kinda spontaneous ya know!" Videl giggled.

"Don't remind me," I grumbled. I was about to say something else, but Mr. Satan stepped back into the room with Buu and Bee.

"Well I must say, uh, Gohan, I thought you looked a little taller than this!" Satan laughed a little bit.

"Um Dad, that is Verto, not Gohan. They just look alike now," Videl said.

"Nonsense Videl, little Verto is only seven or eight years old right? This kid looks about your age, though he is a little short," Satan scratched his head slightly.

"That Verto, yes yes, that Verto!" Buu said happily. I often wondered if he had a brain to speak of, but he just proved it.

"How can that be Verto? His hair is wrong and he's taller, and this one looks meaner!" Satan's feet staggered a little bit at that word.

"You don't want to see mean," I warned.

"Dad, didn't you hear me tell you what happened last week when I was helping baby sit the boys over at Capsule Corp? Trunks used one of his grandpa's inventions that supposed to be some kind of manipulator for age or something. He used it on Verto and made him about nine years older!" Videl explained. Satan took a minute to figure this out, he seemed to be stuck on the word _manipulator._

"Oh I get it, Trunks must have tampered with one of Dr. Briefs inventions and accidentally made Verto older. Yeah I figured it all out!"

"Argh," Videl growled. I rolled my eyes in tune with hers, before Videl yanked my arm sharply towards the doorway.

"Yeah that's right Dad, in about three months we're going to change him back with the dragonballs, don't make me explain those again ok?"

"Whatever Sweet Pea, go have fun now with your boyfriend Gohan!" _Man, he is thicker headed than Goku, how is that possible? _

Videl dragged me by the arm up to the door, "C'mon, get out before you fall victim to his I saved the world lecture!" Videl said, giving me all the motivation I needed to make a discreet exit.

"I'll see ya tomorrow at five Verto!" Videl shouted out as I began to lift into the air.

"Yeah, bye!" I said strangely, rising into the hundreds of feet range and blasting off. I went home slowly, weaving through buildings a time or two before I hit the mostly uninhabited mainland stretch to West City. As I flew back, I suddenly sensed some sort of distorted energy around their mansion. It was gone just as fast and I didn't pick it up again afterwards even when I stopped. I shrugged it off and proceeded home.

-

In no time though, I reached Capsule Corp as I never was one for flying slowly to get to my destination. I sensed Vegeta and Mom inside, their ki levels were emitting frustration and anger. Something I had discovered soon after training with Old Kai, my ki senses could read emotions better from afar. Sure I had learned what certain fluctuations did and meant, but all I had to do now was sense someone's energy and I could almost pinpoint their current state of mind. The state of mind I was sensing now told me I should enter and say nothing to either one of them. Getting dragged into one of their spats wasn't something I wanted to do tonight. Unfortunately they were in the front lobby, so unless I wanted to break my own window and sneak in, I didn't have a chance to avoid it no matter which door I took. I opened the front door quietly, though you wouldn't be able to tell by sound anyway, the screaming was too loud.

"I'm telling you Vegeta, you need to do something other than train all the time. Ever heard of a hobby, or heaven forbid, a job?"

"Woman, my job right now is to raise the brats and train them for battles, not to mention protect the planet. Nothing else is of any concern to me at this time!" Vegeta shouted back. _Great, another one of these arguments._

"I suggested this to you last month Vegeta! Why won't you find something else to do?" she pleaded back.

"What are you talking about woman? I did find something to do outside of this house!" Vegeta yelled back.

"Yeah, sparring every other day with Goku from what I heard," she muttered as he growled slightly. "Well, I want you to find something else to do, because I am shutting off the gravity chamber until you do. Starting right now!" _Shit, there goes my time passer._ I knew Vegeta wouldn't give up that easily, but I also knew he'd want his precious gravity room back quickly, so this time he might be twisted into doing something else.

"Fine woman, you win, what do you suggest?" Vegeta huffed slightly in defeat.

"I knew you'd see it my way!" Mom celebrated. I took the chance to walk quickly by, hopefully without notice. It worked, somehow, and I went up to my room quickly and shut the door as soon as I was in. It wasn't five minutes before the door opened quickly, smashing into the wall as Vegeta stepped in and closed it again.

"Ever heard of knocking?" I asked.

"Shut up. I need your help boy, the woman wants me to do something other than train. I can't think of anything that I would prefer to do that is suitable for this planet and myself, any suggestions? The woman gave me a few, but none of them sounded appealing to me," he explained. _Damnit, of course he would drag me into this!_

"Well, other than fighting, do you enjoy competitive sports at all?" I asked, trying to get a bearing for what Vegeta might actually like.

"Not really, of course I don't have time for such trivial things so I have never bothered with them. What Earth sports do you find entertaining?"

"Well, there's a lot of them that I like, some that I don't mind too: There's baseball, football, hockey, bowling, basketball, I've been known to watch boxing and golf a time or two. As for watching team sports all you have to do is find out when they're playing and get tickets, then go watch and cheer on your favorite team," I tried to explain as simply as I could.

"I heard the woman's former acquaintance plays that baseball sport, so I do not wish to see that. I've heard you speak of bowling and football a time or two; I might be interested in one of those. I've noticed you have a knack for entertainment," he said in a truly annoyed voice.

"Okay, well Bowling is a sport anyone can play. Football, well it would be better if we watch, any particular choice?"

"I would prefer something I can do myself, though seeing a bunch of weakling humans beat the shit out of each other does sound worth a look." Vegeta said, "We will go tomorrow, be ready by ten!" With that said he left, slamming the door behind him. _Man, this could get ugly, and on top of that he didn't even tell me which one. Tomorrow is going to suck, and on top of that I have to take Videl out and keep her away from Gohan, damn you Dende!_


	10. Vegeta's Day Out

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**A/n: I apologize to those who don't know much about American football or bowling, but most of the extremely technical stuff will be left out. I don't suggest you get too bored with this chapter.  
**

**Chapter 9: Vegeta's day out**

I got two nasty surprises when I went down for breakfast. First of all, Vegeta had picked both activities. We would watch a football game first, it started at half past ten in southern West City, and then we would go bowling afterwards. _Well, this would be enjoyable for me, but I know I'll be answering questions and explaining things all day long. Just fuckin great._ The second thing was that Trunks was coming as well, but luckily there would be no Goten today. It was possible that Dende wanted to make it up to me before I went up and disemboweled him. Another thing, though it was unlucky, was that because we were members of the Capsule Corp family, we got tickets very quickly. At first I was slightly concerned about that, we may end up in the nosebleed reserve area, but then that may not be so bad with Vegeta and Trunks around.

At ten sharp, Vegeta barked at us to get out the door. Again luck smiled bright today, Mom had gotten Vegeta to wear something other than his training spandex. Of course she got him to wear his pink bad man shirt with blue jeans. _Geez, a notorious badass wearing pink at a football game. _She couldn't stop him from wearing his Saiyan boots though, but that was okay. Trunks wore a blue capsule corp. T-shirt and black jeans. I managed to find just a plain black shirt with dark brown khakis to match my tail better. Mom had found us a game between Satan City Trojans and West City Warriors, and it was being played in West City, limiting the fly to a few minutes at the most.

We arrived to a packed house; apparently it was the big rivalry in the world football league that was formed on this earth. Vegeta refused to support the Satan City team, no surprise there, so we sat on the West city end. I was pleasantly surprised to see we managed to get through the packed crowd without incident, until we got to the stands. Vegeta had taken the lead in finding a good seat, since it was a general admission game. He went to the most unlikely place to find a clear seat, in the middle about halfway up the stands.

He stopped there and looked around sharply, "We will sit here, move it humans!" He barked at the three large men that had taken up residence there. They looked like they might be a few of the more rabid fans in the whole stadium. There certainly wasn't a concern about Vegeta getting into a fight, hell I expected it. It was the fact that he seemed to make sure he was in the best possible place to cause a scene and be noticed.

"What the hell do you want?" the one nearest Vegeta asked, stuffing a hot dog down his throat.

"I said to move your sorry ass, I have chosen to sit here!" Vegeta barked at him again.

"We got here first shithead, if you don't like it, do something about it!" _Bad move._ I needn't even try to think that, the man was already gone. A victim of Vegeta's usual toss into the distance attack. The other two guys weren't about to take this sitting down, so they stood up and charged at Vegeta. Two piles of ashes lay smoking a few seconds later, then the red and yellow hats dropped on top of them.

"Any other objections?!" Vegeta yelled, looking around to take on anyone else. There were no further arguments towards the Saiyan prince, in fact, most people made sure he had plenty of room. Vegeta sat down first, ordering me to sit on his right and Trunks on his left.

"Okay brat, I did a bit of research on this competition. I'm counting on you to offer information as needed," he whispered.

"I'll do what I can," I said, shocked that he bothered to due research. The Satan City Trojans came out first, decked out in green and white jerseys with a big black and green flag out in front. The other side of the field went nuts, it being packed as well. The warrior fans, dressed in yellow and red mostly, booed horribly. Then the warrior team came out, deep red and yellow, and I thought Vegeta was going to blow up right there because the cheering was so loud. He managed to stay calm over this and even stood up to observe the team he was supporting, or at least glancing at. Everyone settled down once the teams were out, starting the first string of Vegeta's questions.

"The woman fancies this, team, so you two will as well, understand? Good, now then, how do they decide who kicks off first?" _Wow, he did look it up a little bit._

"Coin toss, one team calls heads or tails, whatever side wins gets to choose," I said, just as they performed it.

"Satan City has won the toss and has elected to defer, West City will defend the south goal!" came the announcer's voice, sounding oddly like the tournament MC. In the midst of it, part of his voice was drowned out by the various cheering and booing.

"What does that mean brat?" Vegeta asked right away. I faked a grin purposefully just to hold back my opinion, _A little bit, he apparently didn't hit details that hard._

"That means the Trojans will kick off now and receive the ball first in the second half," I said quickly. Vegeta shut up for a little while, until the kickoff was in the air. The Warrior kick returner received the ball at the ten-yard line and took off in a furious sprint towards the pack. He was brought down in the middle of the field at about the twenty-three, and the respective offence and defense took the field.

"Why didn't that player just jump or fly over all of them all? Or at least pick a different route. Up the middle is too obvious!"

"Typically the coaches don't use trick plays early on. As to why he didn't jump or fly, I believe you call them weakling humans with no ability," I whispered, trying not to be noticed. The first play set up with a single running back and several receivers lined up and then went into motion, it was a run play to the weak side that gained two yards, second down and eight.

Vegeta was already playing analyst before the play was whistled dead, "Why would they run the ball to the weaker side with less blockers, that doesn't make sense!" He generally ignored the vein that was starting to expand on my forehead; _Well this day is off to a fine stop!_

"Maybe not, but then if the other team doesn't expect it, then it could work very well," I explained, hoping he'd get it and not just blow up the place. He remained calm however, and waited for the next play. This time a full back came in, making for two runners in the backfield. The quarterback handed off to the running back again for a similar play, this time the runner broke through the initial line behind the block of the full back and picked up five yards.

"I see what you mean boy, though the formation was slightly different, they didn't expect a similar tactic. I didn't realize this game was such of strategy, might be worth a look after all," Vegeta said, half way satisfied. Third and three lined up, this time a single running back again with two tight ends and two receivers. The quarterback faked the hand off and the runner blocked for him while he looked for an open target to throw. He found the open receiver down the field and fired. The runner zigzagged around the defensive back and circled back to make the catch, being brought down quickly. He picked up twenty-five yards on the play, making for a first down on forty-five-yard line of the Trojans.

"I see, you can throw the ball as well. I must have missed that when I was researching it. Now if the runner out there doesn't catch it, can anyone pick up the ball?" he asked. I scowled, _I knew it, he glanced over about two things and called it research, must have been bored out of his mind before declaring it a waste of time._

"No, it is an incomplete pass and the ball returns to its previous spot for the next play, no gain or loss," I said. The next play went by, running play, no gain. On second down, the first penalty flag shot up into the air. It being a false start on the offensive line, which led to explaining the many penalties.

"Are there illegal ways to strike and bring down the opponent?" Vegeta asked.

"Yes actually, you can't grab the facemask, nor can you take out the legs from behind either. If your arms are literally holding another and prevent him from moving at all, you get nailed for that. If you strike one from behind when he had nothing to do with you, they call for that. There's a bunch of them," I said quickly at the end.

"Are there ever any fights?" Vegeta asked. _Well that took long enough._

"Occasionally, the heavy fights turn into game ejections. Most of the other stuff is left alone, unless its obvious or the players are talking too much trash to each other and the refs," I said. The next play went by, incomplete pass, but the receiver was pulled down as the ball got there, calling for pass interference on the defense. Now the warriors were on the thirty-yard line, and massive cheers were starting to go up. On the following play, the level of violence increased by a few factors. Two defenders broke the line quickly, coming up on either side of the quarterback just as he was looking for a target to throw to. He released the ball just in time to throw it incomplete, but the defenders didn't stop and both rammed into his sides at the same time, crushing him on impact. A massive groan went up, as well as Vegeta's eyes.

"Oooo, he's done," I said with a slight grin. Sure enough, the signal caller for the Warriors was done, he lay motionless on the grass and wasn't moving much. The medical team came out and got him on a stretcher, taking off in the ambulance a few minutes later, the player was on oxygen by then.

"Wow, that has to be the fastest I've ever seen a QB leave, but then they did hit him pretty hard," I noted.

"And here I thought this would be a waste of my time. Those doctors will find one hell of a surprise when they get that padded armor off of him," Vegeta smirked.

"Why's that dad?" Trunks asked, his long silence finally ended.

"Because son, that player had five ribs broken and two were sticking out of his skin," Vegeta said as calm as a sleeping dog.

"COOL!"

After a replacement came in, the game resumed. However the Warriors were still sore about their first string quarterback going down so quickly and violently, so the offensive line did something about it. Next play they blocked until the runner got past, and then they started smashing into the defenders as they turned around. Soon the defensive-line was sprawled out on the ground, and all the big guys jumped and landed on them hard. Another groan went up, and four defenders lay sprawled out cold with penalty flags all over the place.

"Well, that's something new," I muttered. All the yards the runner just got were now history, but so were the four defenders. They hobbled off the field with the help of their teammates, who started shouting threats at the Warriors.

"Hahahaha, about time this got interesting!" Vegeta chuckled. I however was amazed at two things: How violent this game had started out, and that Vegeta was actually enjoying it. One play later the Warriors hit a twenty-seven yard pass to score a touchdown, in which the stands were instantly on fire with cheers. The extra point was kicked through and good, making the score seven to zero West City.

"Truly an entertaining game you have here brat, and I thought these humans were completely boring," Vegeta held a bright smirk of enjoyment.

**-**

The first half went through pretty smoothly. Both sides scored a few times and kicked a field goal each, and no turnovers for either side. There also wasn't much besides a few cheap shots and a few scuffles, not to mention that Vegeta didn't do or say much. That changed once halftime was approaching. With about two minutes left in the half, the warriors were at the fifty-yard line trying to put together a scoring drive. The score was tied at seventeen a piece, so both sides were getting tensed up for a potentially exciting second half. It was second down and six when the yellow penalty flag came flying out. The call was false start on the offence.

"But none of them moved," Vegeta said.

"Yeah, sometimes they make a bad call, or they see something we don't. In this case I can only guess he lined up too far ahead," I said quickly.

"No, the one they accused was lined up correctly, and did not move. Even an amateur could have seen that," Vegeta said in slight annoyance. Two plays later the warriors were forced to punt, both passes were dropped and incomplete.

"So because of the referee's bad call, they end up losing the ball. Is that correct boy?" Vegeta growled.

"Yeah, it happens," I said, trying to be mellow about it.

"Stupid human officials, too bad you can't penalize them too!" A few plays later, the Trojans got lucky and the ref called off sides on the defense, even though the offensive line moved first.

"That was another one, that official is playing favorites! He missed the offensive penalty and called it on the defense instead!" Vegeta said as he started to look agitated.

"Well, they're supposed to be impartial. It may seem like they are playing favorites when multiple calls show up on the same team, but sometimes that team is just making many mistakes in a row," I explained.

"Are you calling my woman's team unworthy?"

"I'm just trying to explain it to you, take it as you like. This game has a lot of emotional ups and downs," I said, backing off the subject. The next play the ref missed a pretty obvious facemask call right in front of his eyes, and the runner was off to the races and scored for the Trojans.

"That's it, that ref is not impartial! Now he's going to pay!" Vegeta said as he got up. I rose to stop him, but he pointed at the seats with the most serious of eyes, telling me to just stay where I was. _Somehow getting into a fight with him right now over a blown call doesn't seem like a good idea. _

Vegeta stomped down the stands as the extra point was kicked good. He leapt onto the field, causing quite a stir right away, and made a walking beeline for the ref who was supposedly guilty. Security came in to stop him, but they were thrown aside pretty quickly. The ref put his hands up in defense, until Vegeta kicked him to the ground, then took his whistle and examined it momentarily. Then he shoved the whistle down the ref's throat, string and all. While the ref struggled with his throat being clogged, Vegeta lined up behind him and kicked the ref into the air lightly. The body sailed through the air to the other side of the field, where he went straight through the field goal uprights from about seventy yards out. At first a groan uttered from the audience, before Vegeta threw up his hands in a field goal signal, causing the stands to erupt with cheers on both sides. Extra security tried to come restrain Vegeta, but soon they were part of the sprinkling system. Vegeta came back into the stands slowly, basking in the glory of what he had just done.

"That's a first, you feel better now?" I asked as Vegeta came up to sit down again.

"What is, the first time my dad has done that?" Trunks asked.

"No, the first time the ref has ever been used as a ball and kicked through the goal!" I laughed slightly before realizing the guy was probably dead. _It's almost not worth it trying to stop him, he's going to do it whether I'm around or not._

**-**

The first half resumed momentarily, as soon as the security managed to pick themselves up and a replacement official nervously appeared. The Warriors put together a minute long drive that concluded with a score with nineteen seconds remaining, leaving the score tied at twenty-four at halftime. I was somewhat surprised that no more security attempted to get anywhere near Vegeta to ask him to leave or something, but perhaps they finally recognized him. Then Vegeta's stomach growled a bit, being halftime meant it was time to go get food. He had Trunks and I remain to save the seats and said he'd get the food himself. Ten minutes went by during the halftime show, and no sign of him.

It wasn't long after that when we heard why, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE OUT OF NACHOS?!" _Oh hell._ I sensed a ki blast or two shoot off underneath the stands before Vegeta made his way back, his arms packed with hot dogs, burgers, fries, chips, candy, and soda.

He handed off several items of each to us, "It seems some of the vendors wanted to donate their food to me today."

"Yeah I wonder why," I muttered.

-

The second half started with a bang, literally. Another bad call came against the Warriors, and Vegeta actually used his Big Bang attack on the unsuspecting ref, leaving a large scorch mark on the field. I just shook my head and ate the rest of my burger; there was no stopping him anyway. I was more amazed that he left the fans and players alone for the time being. Soon after that the warriors scored another touchdown. Then on the kickoff return, the Trojan runner fumbled the ball on his own thirty and a warrior covered it, giving them the ball back in deep territory. The Trojans dug in and hit three straight sacks, making West city settle for a field goal. The Warriors kept a ten point lead through the rest of the third period, and only one more referee left the living world during it.

The first half of the fourth saw the end of two more officials, and then a severely injured Trojan who talked smack to Vegeta after the second ref was blown away. The warrior fans were going completely nuts when Vegeta beat up the player. His whole team didn't come out to help, they were all too afraid. Instead, with two minutes to go in the game, they took the backup quarterback out, and then the running back. The warrior coach stomped over to the other side and engaged a fistfight with the Trojan coach. When the Trojan players backed up their coach, the Warrior players rushed over and started to fight with them. Both sides of the stands went crazy again, many saying that this was the biggest fight they ever saw between the teams. The replacement refs attempted to eject the perpetrators, but found they couldn't kick everyone out. They called the game in a draw, which turned out to be a huge mistake.

Fans of West City stormed the field and started beating up the refs, and then the Satan City fans got dragged into it and the whole place was rioting. Random people were fighting each other all over the place, many being left bloodied and beaten on the ground. Soon, Vegeta, Trunks and I were the only ones left in the stands.

"Wow, I can't say that I've ever seen that before," I said in amazement, taking a sip of the rest of my soda.

"Never?" Vegeta asked.

I shook my head, "Not like that. Sure there's been plenty of fights on and off the field that I've seen, but nothing that involved pretty much everyone!"

"Yes, entertaining competition you have here boy. Now, since that is over, we go to the bowling place next!" Vegeta announced, motioning for us to join him in the air. No one even bothered to turn around to point out three flying figures, they were too busy swinging at each other.

**-**

Vegeta led the way through the air, saying he located the resident bowling alley earlier. A few minutes later we came to a glowing sign reading West City Bowling on top of a big building. We landed and went inside. I instantly thanked Dende, the place was pretty empty, only a few bowlers on the far ends.

"What first brat?" Vegeta asked.

"We have to get a lane, then bowling shoes and balls," I said, leading the way to the counter. Overall the place was pretty decently sized, about fifty lanes or so.

"How can I help you sir?" the clerk asked with a bright smile. I was fearful of what Vegeta might say, so I spoke for him.

"A lane please, and shoes for all three of us, and bowling balls," I said quickly. After getting shoe sizes that fit correctly, he sent us to lane twenty-four. We did so, and then came back and he had three black balls sitting out, all had a few lights glowing from them as well.

Clerky continued to hold his bright smile, "Okay sirs, now I need to know how you throw your ball, straight or curve?" _Interesting. _

Vegeta and Trunks weren't sure at first so I answered for them, "Straight, they're new at this. I throw a hook."

"Okay, just hold your palm over the blue sphere and let it measure your hand size," the clerk ordered, holding the ball up for Vegeta. Vegeta put his palm to the blue dot on the ball and it lit up several times. Then three holes appeared as if they were melted in, two for fingers and one for thumb.

"That's cool," I said without thinking.

"What's that young man?" Clerky said.

"Oh nothing, I'm just used to old style drilling the balls."

"Really, where were you raised? Up in the mountains maybe? It's been like this for at least fifty years now!"

"He was not raised in some backwater station. Another attempt at mockery like that and I guarantee you will be wearing that ball over your head!" Vegeta said deathly calm. Clerky didn't really respond to that, instead fitted Trunks' hand, then mine.

"Fingertips I presume?"

I nodded and my ball finished, almost a spitting image of my old bowling ball that was destroyed along with my Earth by Frieza. We went down to the lanes and put the balls on the racks and put on our shoes.

"What first brat?" Vegeta repeated.

"Hmmm, I guess I need to provide example since there's no one around here," I said, looking around before stepping onto the approach. The computer listed a few practice balls, which was a very good thing since I was way out of practice. I went through my old motion, hoping that I remembered how to do this correctly, and threw the ball, putting spin on it at the end. I remembered to hold back my strength, but it still rolled like a bat outta hell. The lane didn't have much oil on it so it hooked a lot to the left and banged the middle solidly, leaving only one pin on the far left side. Vegeta and Trunks didn't say anything, only observed as the lane was cleared and the ball came back for the second throw. I picked up the spare pretty easily and came back.

"This doesn't look that hard," Vegeta muttered, stepping up to the lane and grabbing his ball. Luckily he didn't try to imitate my motions, I had explained earlier to him that everyone's style is different and that you had to make your own. He cranked his arm back and fired hard, the ball hit the lane and skidded down in barely two seconds. It bashed the right side and took out five pins, cracking them apart on impact and leaving a trail of smoke behind.

"Those pin things should be made of steel or something harder," Vegeta said, picking up his ball when it came back. I took note of a crack on his ball already_. _He fired another missile at the remaining pins, taking all but two of them out but not breaking.

"This seems rather simple," Vegeta said, slightly disappointed.

"Then why didn't you get them all?" I asked without thinking. The glare I received wasn't a pleasant one.

Trunks stood up and grabbed his ball and prepared to throw. He took his time and walked up carefully, before rolling the ball pretty decently for a first-timer and had it dead set on the head pin. It slid a bit right and took out the head pin on the right, causing all the pins to go down in a strike.

"Yeah! I got em all in one shot!" Trunks celebrated and sat down with a bright smile.

"So who wants to go first?" I asked, punching buttons on the computer console.

"I will go first!" Vegeta declared. _Why did I even ask?_

-

The game began and Vegeta took his place. His first ball smacked the middle and left two pins on the far right. Apparently I didn't have to tell him not to throw it so hard, he figured that out on his own. The balls were like leaves in the wind anyway when it came to weight. Vegeta threw the second ball and totally missed both of them. He looked slightly annoyed, but knew it was his own fault. Trunks got up and took his turn; he shot seven on the first ball and picked up two of them. I got up, threw a strike and sat down, pleased that I wasn't completely rusty.

"So how do the X's and slashes count on the score? I noticed they didn't print ten right away on that?" Vegeta asked, hiding whatever interest he had.

"Spares count ten, plus whatever the next ball is. So if you get a spare, and then a six on the next ball, you'd get sixteen for that frame alone. The six will also count again for it's own frame once you throw the second ball. If you get a strike on a spare, it'll count twenty for the spare frame and ten again for the strike frame. Strikes work the same way, but they count the next two balls instead of one," I explained.

"So getting several of these X's is a good thing?" Trunks asked.

I grinned slightly, "Yeah, getting three or more of them really cranks out the score."

"Has anyone ever gotten an all strike game?" Vegeta asked. _I knew that one was coming._

"Yeah some people have, I haven't myself. An all strike game is a perfect game of three-hundred for the score, most I've gotten is two-fifty-seven," I said, shrugging.

"That was before you were a Saiyan though right?" he asked. I nodded, that was technically correct. Vegeta got up and threw his next turn, a five spare. Trunks went again and slipped a bit when he threw it, causing it to fall into the gutter for no score. He looked ready to cry when I pointed to remind him of another turn. He chucked the ball and got nine of them to make up for it. I tossed another strike immediately, though the last pin wobbled and played with the air for a moment before dropping. Third frame and Vegeta was ready to go again. He pulled the ball back, but dropped it too early on the downswing, causing it to blaze into the gutter and streak off. Vegeta looked ready to kill himself over that one. The next ball got everything on the lane. I wanted to make a joke at that one, but I didn't for my own safety.

Trunks threw an eight and a spare next; celebrating that he got a mark. I threw yet another strike, causing Vegeta to start wondering if I was cheating. I assured him I wasn't, and he got up and threw his ball. The pins flew apart, leaving one that was shaking back and forth, threatening to fall down but didn't.

"Damn you!" Vegeta shouted at the pin that refused his wrath. His second ball missed it by a hair. Trunks threw a seven next, and I tossed another strike, I was on a streak of four now. Vegeta threw his ball just as picture perfect as it would get, leaving that same pin wobbling back and forth. This time it didn't stay up, he pointed his finger and fired a small blast, destroying it on the spot.

I shook my head slightly, "Couldn't resist could you?" _ Thankfully there is replacement pins. Hell I shouldn't complain, I've wanted to do that many times over._

**-**

The rest of the game went on without much of a hitch, with the exception that I kept getting strikes and never lost focus. I wasn't sure how I could be so rusty and be doing that, but I wasn't complaining. I didn't matter to me that I had experience and Saiyan strength plus agility, I still shouldn't have been able to do it that easily. Vegeta finished with one hundred forty-five, Trunks right behind him at one hundred forty-two. I however was at the tenth frame with nine strikes on me.

I took a deep breath as Vegeta called out slight encouragement, "Okay brat, you can do this!" I nodded and sank back into focus, throwing the ball. It was just as beautiful as anything I had thrown that game, and hit the pocket dead on, spreading the pins out and dropping them all in the pit behind the lane.

"Yes!" Trunks shouted, while Vegeta smirked. _Not over yet, two to go, but the hard one is done._ Behind the lane, Clerky and some others had formed a slight crowd and all were applauding me. The ball came back and I threw another perfect ball, and another strike. Loud claps and cheers could be heard now, everyone in the bowling alley scampered over for the last ball to be thrown.

"Ladies and gentleman, this young man is on the verge of throwing a three-hundred game!" Clerky announced through the mic. _No Pressure, no pressure._ I grabbed the ball and prepared for the moment of truth. As I stepped forward, time seemed to slow down for me, and everything turned blue before I even moved my arm. _What the hell? Must be something of my imagination for a tense moment. Focus, ignore it! _The blue hues didn't fade as I released the ball and it slowly rolled into a hook; sailing to the center with grace I had never seen before. _Come on, get over there,_ I silently encouraged the ball turned towards the head pin. Just before it hit, I saw a thin blue energy around the ball. Before I could blink, time sped back up and the ball smashed the pins, leaving one wobbling on the lane. I smiled, shaking my head slightly and turning around.

"Oh well!"

A massive "Awe!" rang out and everyone started to clap. All of a sudden everyone clapping stopped and started hooting and hollering, as well as jumping. Trunks did so as well, and Vegeta stared a dagger at the pins. I thought I sensed something behind me, but it wasn't from anyone's ki going off, so I spun around to see the pin wobble one way real far, then fall the other way. At first no one reacted much, especially me, the shock was still being processed. Then huge cheers rang out and a lot of hands suddenly stuck out for me to slap or shake. And for the moment, I didn't care what made it fall over, even if it was Dende giving my heart a lift, it was pure bliss to know I had just shot a perfect game. I began my celebration by pumping my arms into the air.

"Great job kiddo!" Clerky said over the microphone. Others joined him with the congratulations, though Vegeta stayed out of it. I settled down quickly and returned my shoes, but one thing was still bothering me as we prepared to leave.

"You didn't fire off any energy blasts on the last throw did you?" I asked.

"Why would I do such a dishonorable thing? You achieved that on your own, maybe that still hasn't sunk in yet!" Vegeta grunted. _Then just what did I see and sense around the ball? Unless it was my own power, but I didn't try to use my energy on it. The ball would have blown up or sailed on by. Maybe I should just forget about it, I'm letting the surprise dumb me down into thinking it was impossible._

-

After the short celebration concluded, we left the bowling alley. My tail swished back and forth in my happy mood, and I bore a big smile.

"Well, you are a Saiyan, you should expect no less than perfection!" Vegeta snorted. _Not even his cocky remarks are going to ruin this._ We flew back towards Capsule Corp slowly; Vegeta suddenly seemed to be a bit on edge and never took off in any sort of speed. Suddenly he flew down to an old alley that remained in a deserted part of the city. Trunks and I flew after him with slight concern.

"What's going on Dad?"

"I don't know Trunks, keep your guard up. I know I detected something here," he whispered. Behind a dumpster we noticed a leg sticking out from the other side.

Trunks ran over before Vegeta could stop him, "Trunks hold on a second!"

"What dad, it's just a bum sitting here. Probably drinking or sleeping anyway, no need to WORRY!" Trunks suddenly gasped in shock when he looked at the man and backed up against the wall, almost terrified. We rushed over to see what was wrong, only to see that his head was gone, and the neck was bleeding badly. Vegeta narrowed his eyes, mine did the same by instinct. Trunks was still gasping as we looked around for whatever might have done this.

"Be weary boys, that blood is very fresh," Vegeta ordered. Using my ki sense, I picked up on something faint nearby, but I couldn't recognize it as anything I had ever sensed before. It seemed more spotty and hard to find. Vegeta picked up on it too, and we triangulated it to directly in the back of the alley in the shadows.

"What is it?" Trunks whispered. We didn't answer as we hadn't seen much movement yet, but we did make out two slightly glowing eyes. Then I saw why I didn't recognize the ki signature, it just wasn't anything close to what I had encountered in the past. The head of the man nearby came rolling out, it was covered in blood and bite marks. The poor human's eyes probably burned the image of his encounter permanently into his head. Then a loud growl came from the shadow. Out stepped a four-legged creature, covered in lean muscle and just a few hairs for fur and tiny protective spikes along its back that I almost mistook for a backbone. Its face was hideous, beating out just about anything I had ever seen before.

Frieza and Buu didn't have shit on this thing in the ugly department. Its skin was a sickly purple, and its face was covered in the red blood of the human. On it's front two legs were razor sharp claws that looked like they'd tear through steel pretty easily. It growled again, baring many razor sharp teeth, and walked a bit closer very slowly like it was stalking us. From a distance, someone could have mistaken it for a large dog, but up close it was anything but. The thing dared come forward some more, prepping to attack from the looks of it. It seemed focused on me, but Vegeta stepped forward to await it just five feet away. _I have no clue what this thing is, but I do know it's barking up the wrong tree today!_

"Boys, get into the air and stay away! I'll deal with this!" Vegeta ordered. I complied as well as Trunks, floating about twenty feet above Vegeta and the strange creature. Suddenly the thing leapt forward and took a swipe at Vegeta, who was more than ready for it and dodged easily. The creature tried again and missed, then again and still missed. The creature kept attacking in the same manner and Vegeta kept dodging. What was staggering was the recklessness and rage behind the attacks and the speed that came with it, even though the thing barely had any noticeable ki coming off it. After massive failures, the creature charged straight at Vegeta. It missed horribly when Vegeta phased away to just below us in the air. It smashed into the dumpster and drilled right through it. It spun around when it seemed to either sense, or maybe smell Vegeta in the air. Then it started jumping. What caught us off was how high the thing could jump, it reached Vegeta's altitude very easily the first time, but still missed with its front claws. Vegeta rose up higher, as he continued to study the beast. The thing jumped again, probably reaching twenty feet up this time, but nowhere near Vegeta. It tried a few more times before stopping and giving him a dark look before eating the dead body of the bum.

"What the hell is that thing?" Trunks asked. The creature ducked back into the shadows again suddenly, and then a cop rounded the corner, inspecting the dead body he had just found, headless and all. He traced the blood towards the shadows, and we sensed the creature prep to attack him as well.

"Look out!" Trunks shouted. The cop looked up at us in surprise, marking it as his last mistake when the creature attacked. Unlike Vegeta, the cop had no ability at all, and the creature started tearing into him with its claws and biting his limbs in a frenzy. In no time the cop was down and dead, the creature beginning to eat his insides.

"What a beast!" Trunks noticed.

"Yes, and it will be stopped right now!" Vegeta said, flying down with his arms crossed. The creature looked up at its former prey, growling again.

"I don't know what you are, but I do know this, you made a mistake coming here. I don't know if you can understand me or not, but mark this as your gravesite!" Vegeta announced. The creature didn't take it very well even if it did understand him, it charged toward him with frightening speed for something supposedly so weak. Vegeta phased away just as it tried to bite, and hit a smashing one-arm blow to it's back. The blow took the beast to the ground, but it got right back up. It received another blow to the back, and I heard bones shatter. But still, it got back up and challenged Vegeta. It either couldn't feel pain, or it didn't care. Whichever it was, it swiped at Vegeta with a back claw, tearing part of his jeans easily and lightly cutting his skin. Vegeta put a bit more power into his next kick, sending it into the wall and seemingly out cold. He knelt close to it and listened to it with his ear. Then he pointed his finger and shot a ki beam to the center of its head. What I could sense of it's life force vanished and it died right there.

He motioned for us to come down as he examined the cut on his leg. We landed and got a good whiff of the disgusting smell it was now emitting, not to mention the two dead bodies nearby. Something was setting off warning bells in my head, something about the way this thing fought. I certainly had never seen anything like this up close and personal, but it was almost like I had seen something just like it. I recalled what Old Kai had told me not long ago, realization hit me and I gasped sharply.

Vegeta glanced over from looking at the blood from his leg, "What is it boy?"

"This thing, I think I know what it is," I said, shuddering a bit.

"What?"

"It's a Zergling," I said sharply.

"Zergling, as in Zerg?" Vegeta asked.

"Yeah, that's what I mean," I said, feeling a bit nauseous all of a sudden.


	11. Date With Videl

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 10: Videl's Date**

"Woman! Come here quickly!" Vegeta shouted as he hauled the dead Zergling into Capsule Corp with blood dripping on his pink shirt. Mom showed up quickly, looking slightly surprised and then frightened.

"Vegeta, what is that?!" She shrieked.

"Examine it, it's dead! We found it a few minutes ago, Verto said it was part of the Zerg race he told us about!" Vegeta explained briefly. That got Mom into full scientist mode and she lead the way to her labs. Vegeta had me and Trunks stay in the lobby until he was sure Mom would be safe with the thing around.

_He'll be back here soon, probably wanting answers as to how I knew what it was. I should be able to avoid saying anything about DBZ so not to screw up the timeline, but of course it's already messed up with me here. Oh well, the Zerg weren't originally a part of it, guess I better get used to this._ Vegeta stayed with Mom for a few minutes while Trunks and I sat in silence.

It wasn't long before he returned, "I want some god damn answers!"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"How the hell did you know what that thing was? You said you never encountered the Zerg that Dabura and the Kai's warned you about!"

"And that part is true, I never have! But on my world I played a lot of computer games, and one was a game called Starcraft. It was strategy warfare between three races, and one was Zerg. That Zergling we just brought back looked exactly like the ones on that game, hence my recollection," I explained, trying to stay calm.

"So you knew all about them and didn't tell us?" Vegeta started to growl a bit.

"I wasn't sure if they were the same! And if they weren't, what good is false information? It was Old Kai that told me that these creatures were the same as the ones in the game, and that was only a week ago!" I raised my voice slightly but brought it back down, remembering just whom I was speaking to. Vegeta glared at me and I returned the gaze with less intensity.

He lightened slightly though after a few minutes, "Could you recall all their species and fighting abilities now?"

"Not for certain. Just like that Zergling, I'd have to see it again to know for sure," I said, calmer now.

"Hmmm, well I do have an idea, but it's a dangerous one. I had the woman start designing a dimensional time machine for us to have around here. It wasn't my original idea, but it was all she could manage. Could we make a trip back to your world and get the information there?"

I looked at him sharply, "Yeah that would work. All I would have to do is play the game again and I could fill you in with as much as it provides for me."

"Good, I'll inform the woman that we will leave tomorrow morning for your world. She can find the co-ordinances in Trunks' spare time machine," Vegeta grunted slightly and headed back for the labs.

Trunks looked relieved, "I thought Dad was gonna blow up on you for a minute there!"

"He might have if I didn't have so much stuff locked in this brain of mine!" I grinned as I pointed to it. Trunks laughed slightly before wondering off towards the living room area, no doubt one of his shows was about to come on.

I glanced at the clock, it read four-fifteen. _SHIT!_ I raced down to the kitchen and turned on the robots to cook me a quick meal. Fortunately they were prepared and got out the instant meals. To anyone else, the instant meals would appear to be a bunch of dirt in a bag. But the robots needed only to add water through a hydrate machine, and it popped out whatever food it was made out of. In this case, the first bag spit out a bunch of fried chicken. I started tearing into that as soon as the plate was on the table. One thing about the instant meals, they were good for something quick, but tasted lousy. Waiting for food was usually worth it. A plate of mashed potatoes showed up next, getting gulped down in a few seconds.

Mom happened to walk in during the salad plate, "Geez, got a hot date or something?"

"Funny you should mention that. I owed Videl a date for helping me watch the brats. Tonight's the night and I'd rather not do this in a restaurant," I said quickly, turning back to the plate of green beans that had just arrived.

"Oh so that's it, yeah Videl mentioned that. Don't go and steal Gohan's girl though, Chichi would smash your head in with her frying pan, as would I!" Mom warned.

"Nah, just dinner and a movie I think," I said slyly.

"Verto, what else is there? I can tell your hiding something else, out with it!" _Damn, how does she do that?_

"Well, Gohan kinda asked me for a favor," I trailed off.

"Oh, what's that?"

"You see, he claims that a girl from his school asked him to take her out to her boyfriend's favorite restaurant in order to make him jealous and like her more or something. I guess he doesn't want Videl to know because he thinks she would get mad," I explained.

"Ah a fake date! No problem, your secret is safe with me. Just don't tell Videl and keep her away from wherever Gohan and this other girl are," Mom said, seemingly having everything figured out. _Somehow, this night isn't going to come out so good, I just know it. _

-

I changed into a black polo shirt with buttons at the top, not wanting to look like a complete lameass. I picked out black jeans so my tail wouldn't show quite as bad and grabbed some money that Mom had left out. Then I took off for Satan City at four-thirty sharp. I had to fly a little faster because it was about five hundred miles away, and I only had a half hour to get there on time. If I wanted to, I could power up about halfway and be there in a few minutes, but that would have been a nightmare with my slightly better clothes. They would probably burn off if I tried too hard, they weren't exactly comfortable to begin with. My clothes didn't come out wrinkled too badly though, and I approached the city just on time. Landing at the mansion, Videl had just opened the door, and knowing her, she had sensed me coming.

_Damn, she looks good today. Shit, quit thinking that!_ Luckily she didn't hear me, or at least didn't say so. She was wearing a black spaghetti strap top with blue jeans, and instead of her pigtails, she had drawn her hair back into a big ponytail. I snorted slightly as I had told her that I thought she looked better with the shorter hair, therefore she grew the hair back just to agitate me. She smiled as I touched down, waving goodbye to someone inside. She walked up slowly, enough for me to be overwhelmed with her presence. My tail swished out of control in anticipation.

"So, I look pretty good today huh?" she asked.

"Uh yeah," I nodded, silently damning my tail for giving away what I was thinking.

"So movie or dinner first?"

"Either, I just ate my big meal back at home so I'm good for awhile," I shrugged.

"Movie then, glad to see you left your more undesirable manners at home today," Videl said, holding her arm out. I took it and we walked arm in arm towards the place she picked out.

-

Thankfully, no one really recognized us, and I finally got my tail under control and wrapped up. The movie she picked was called "Dreamless Nights." Some story about romance, murder and rape. A female detective plays the main character following a string of these events, with one sadistic villain involved. About half way through, I felt a hand brush and rub my tail a little bit. I looked over at Videl, who was trying not to laugh.

"_You looked bored, I was trying to cheer you up a bit!"_ she thought at me.

"_Actually it is kinda interesting,"_ I replied in my head. She frowned slightly, before grinning and giving my tail another rub, causing me to shake and gasp a little bit.

"Not in here Videl, please not in here!" I rasped.

"Aw come on, I just want to see what happens," she laughed.

"I have a pretty good idea what it might be, so knock it off!" I warned. She giggled and stopped, and the feeling faded away slowly. Amazingly, no one around us really noticed, even though the place was pretty full. The movie came to a close later on, the detective ended up getting raped as well, but in the middle of it she slit the villain's throat in desperation. We walked out hand in hand again as the crowd filed out in front of us.

"That wasn't too bad was it?" Videl asked.

"No, it was okay. Kind of a different way for the bad guy to get killed but still decent," I said.

"You're blushing!"

"Duh, you kept grabbing my tail!" I whispered a little loudly.

The conversation was cut short when someone familiar called out to us, "Hey Videl!"

"Oh, hi Erasa!" _Oh great, and I bet Sharpner is the one I sense with her._ Sure enough, both blonds turned up, it looked like the blond jock was Erasa's date tonight.

"Videl, what are you doing with nerd boy?" Sharpner asked.

"Who the fuck are you calling nerd boy?" I snapped at him. Obviously he thought I was Gohan, but quickly thought otherwise.

"Well, he looks like Gohan, and he's just as cute, but he's too short to be Gohan!" Erasa looked me over real fast.

"And he swore at me, Gohan never cusses!" Sharpner noticed.

"I'm glad your pea brain figured that one out. After that affair with your wrecked car and the hot tub, I thought you might have been permanently damaged. Never mind after Videl threw you out of the water park!"

The jock gasped, "How did you know about that?!"

"I should know, I was there!" I said with a smirk.

"You're that kid Verto, aren't you? But how?"

"Look, the village idiot figured it out. Faster than her dad too," I noted.

"How?" Sharpner repeated, "I mean you're bigger now…though you are still a shrimp."

I let my face darken, "You're lucky we drove you out of the house. That bitch you were dating turned out to be a killer android, the same general kind that Cell was," I said sharply before turning my back on him.

"So how could you be cute little Verto? He's about eight years old, you look to be about fourteen!" Erasa asked.

"Seventeen," I replied under gritted teeth.

"Actually Dr. Briefs had some crazy invention that can decrease or increase someone or something's age. His little brother tampered with it and it turned him into this. Then it broke, so we're working on getting him back to normal," Videl explained for her less-minded friend.

"Oh okay, as long as he stays cute I don't care!"

I blushed at that remark and Sharpner growled slightly, "What a freak!" He was instantly on the ground holding his nose, Videl popped him pretty good.

"For your information, he's a whole lot nicer and much more of a man then you'll ever be! Come on Verto, let's get some dinner now!" With that said she snatched my hand and guided me away.

-

"Oh I can't believe that idiot sometimes, just so inconsiderate!" Videl snarled.

"Ah, forget him, he's not worth the effort. So where we eating?" I asked, trying to get her off the subject.

"Oh, one of my favorite places in town actually. They have really good tacos there, and I know how you like those!"

My stomach growled slightly in response, "What's it called?"

"O'Flanders, they have a dance floor in there also. Let's get going before it fills up!" Videl started running happily before I could react. _Damnit, she just had to pick there, well maybe she won't notice him. _ I already sensed Gohan in the area though, so I knew the chance of that was slim.

"_Hey Gohan, Videl is heading straight for you, lower you ki!" _I sent out a thoughtful warning. The response I received wasn't one of the more pleasant ones I had ever heard, but he understood and his ki level dropped to nearly nothing. We found the place pretty quickly; it wasn't that far from the movie theatre. It had a big blue sign on the front, and tons of teenagers were flowing into the place, like it was party central. _This might be good, maybe we won't see Gohan at all._ The place had seats all around the middle, which was a big dance floor just like Videl said, and it also had an upper level as well that surrounded the dance floor. The lights were pretty dim, and there were many flashing around the dance floor.

I picked up on Gohan's ki level pretty quickly, even though it was just as low now as any other human in the room. I had a thing for picking people out of crowds; he was on the right side on the lower level near the wall. The hostess took us to a seat on the left side of the upper level, but in clean view of Gohan's table. I turned in my chair a little bit to the left, facing more towards Videl, and not Gohan. The menu landed in front of me, prompting me to start searching for my selection.

"I hope you're hungry, I get free food here ya know!" Videl said with a smile.

I grinned back, "You shouldn't give me incentive like that!" The waitress showed up a minute later and to take our order.

"Good evening Miss Satan. What a lovely date you have tonight, what can I get you?"

"I'll have a load of the extra spicy Nachos!" Videl said.

"And you sir?"

"Twenty beef tacos, meat and cheese only please!" I said. The waitress seemed to stumble slightly when I said that.

The waitress laughed, "Pardon me, that music is up a little louder than I thought it was, I thought I heard you say twenty?"

"You did hear me say twenty, meat and cheese only please. I'm gonna eat light tonight," I repeated, only slightly annoyed. The waitress wrote it down quickly and walked off, muttering slightly.

"Hey, thanks for going out with me Verto. The only reason Dad didn't try to tag along was because it was with you and he seemed to remember how you can be. So far it's been a pretty good night, aside from that incident with Sharpner," Videl smiled warmly.

"Yeah, hasn't been too bad tonight," I muttered off into space.

"What is it?"

"Just thinking about stuff," I said.

"Gonna let me in on it," she asked.

I smirked, "No."

Videl grinned evilly, "Fine, I'll get it out of you sooner or later, it's torture time!" She got up and took the seat beside me, her hand in full reach of my tail.

"Don't Videl. Besides, you're Gohan's girl, I don't want to ruin that relationship," I said, calmer now.

"Aw, you're no fun!" she pouted slightly. A few people came by the table, waving to Videl, and then a few of the girls gave me a hungry look. Videl slid her hand up to hold a small hug while glaring simple threats at the passing teens as if to show some sort of claimed prize.

"So what did you do today with Vegeta and Trunks? Bulma said you three were out doing something other than training?"

"You talk everyday with her now?" I asked.

"Well I actually called to talk to you, but I settled for the juicy news. I want your story though," Videl grinned.

"She shut down the gravity room and threatened to keep it off until Vegeta did something other than training. He came to me for ideas, and we ended up going to a football game, and then we went bowling." I explained.

"Oh, I heard about that, the one with the severely injured and or dead refs and the riot at the end right?"

I nodded grimly before realizing something, "Why didn't you show up and try to stop him or something?"

"Stop Vegeta at his favorite habit? Ha, good luck to me then!" Videl laughed, "So how did Bowling go, didn't I hear you did that on your planet?"

"Yeah, only destroyed a few pins. Shot my first perfect game," I smiled with pride.

"Wow, congrats, this calls for celebration you know!"

"I think I've had enough of your celebrations," I said, earning a punch to the arm.

-

Our food showed up a few minutes later while Videl was discussing her boring day. I tore into my tacos quickly, but not nearly the speed I normally ate, much to Videl's relief. She was right, the tacos were pretty good, and soon they were pretty gone, only an aftertaste left.

"You call that restraining?" she asked with a piece of jalapeno hanging out her mouth.

"Depends on who you're talking about," I chuckled and pointed out the spicy object. She blushed slightly and no more words were spoken until she was done.

"Hey, want to hit the dance floor? I saw from Vegeta that you Saiyans can really cut the rug!" _Damnit, then she'll see Gohan for sure._

"I'm not a dancer, never have been," I said truthfully. That part was true, what I didn't mention was that it was part of gym class back in high school.

"Oh I love this song! Come on!"

"Fine, but don't blame me if it becomes a scene," I muttered as she yanked me out of the seat. We stepped onto the busy wood floor and took positions. The song was a rock ballad, one of my favorite types despite my love for heavy metal, generally slow but a higher pitched chorus. We locked opposite hands, her other hand under my shoulder blade and mine under her rib cage. The dance floor spread out from us, as everyone had stopped to see the champ's daughter and her date dance. I silently prayed that I remembered how to slow dance. She led the movement in tune with the song, slowly stepping left. I followed and flowed into the beat easily, thanking Dende again in the process for not allowing my feet to trip, assuming it was even him. We continued without interruption and for most of the dance her eyes were on me or closed. We separated a few times in a twirl or whatnot, but kept contact at all times. In the midst of it all, I thought I could see a feint blue aura surrounding my skin much like the bowling ball earlier in the day. It seemed to glow through my hands and then surround Videl, but it faded and I disregarded it when I didn't feel anything.

"Hey Verto, why is Gohan here with another girl?" Videl asked in barely a whisper while keeping beat with our dance movements.

I stared into her big blue and pure eyes, "How did you know?"

"Seen him earlier, figured you might have had something to do with it since you requested the date. I can tell things like that, and I'm picking up his thoughts pretty strongly in here. Right now their focused on me and you, so we're giving him a good show," she explained quietly. I sighed and stepped left with her.

"You want the real truth? He's doing this girl a favor by going out with her and making her boyfriend jealous I guess. He thought you would be mad if he told you or if you found out," I said.

"Well, I am a bit mad at him for that. He could have just asked me, but now he's gonna get a taste of his own medicine!" Videl said in a barely audible tone.

I heard the song start to end, "What do you mean by that Videl?" She didn't answer, but she did turn slowly so Gohan would see us in clear view. Then she leaned forward a bit and smoothly raised her hands towards my neck and head. I didn't react, figuring this was part of the dance. It turned out to be part of her dance all right. She leaned forward quickly, and her lips captured mine faster than I could, or in this case, wanted to react. At first I panicked, eyes wide open, but she didn't release, and I stepped up and returned it with a slight motion of my lips. We held the kiss for a solid ten seconds, ten seconds I wanted to hold and forget at the same time. There were loud gasps around us, though I knew where the loudest one was coming from. Videl finally retracted a little bit and held a grand smile as the song ended and some clapping broke out.

"You're gonna make someone really happy someday, I can tell," Videl grinned slightly and tugged slightly on my hand to signal us to get off the dance floor. _Not after I die here in a few minutes._

**-**

I wasn't sure if I was gonna get plowed over by Gohan right away or not, but it seemed that his plan with the other girl worked. The boyfriend showed up and the two confessed to him while Videl and I watched from afar. Gohan quickly backed off of the pair and let them get together, and then made a beeline for us. _Oh boy, do I need to do a Kaioken escape now, or later?_ Videl smiled brightly when he showed up, and I became more than a little weary of myself and my surroundings. I quickly scanned for where the nearest exit was despite the fact that Videl was holding my hand pretty tight so I didn't run off. Gohan stared at me pretty hard, then sighed.

"I suppose I deserved that didn't I?" he asked.

"Darn right you did! Next time, just tell me straight up! I wouldn"t of had a problem with it!" Videl said with a smile then a frown.

"Sorry about dragging you into this Verto," he said, erasing any thoughts I had of escaping for a few minutes.

Videl smiled warmly, "Oh that's okay Gohan, he's one hell of a good kisser!" We both blanched slightly, turning pale to blush in five second or less.

"So Videl, want me to walk you home now?" Gohan offered.

"Not a chance, Verto gets that pleasure because I was on the date with him!" Videl's eyes flashed angrily, "You can walk me home on our dates though," she offered, making his face lighten up.

"Alright, I'll see you guys later then," he said with fake acceptance.

Videl yanked my arm towards her, "Bye Gohan, call me if you can get through the Hercule saved the universe line!" She waved while pulling me towards the door.

"If I survive the next week I'll be shocked," I muttered.

"What do you mean by that silly? You're tougher than nails!" Videl pointed out.

"I'll bet that he'll show up to train and turn me into mush before the weekend is over," I grumbled.

"Aw, jealousy is in the air. Just like the birds, the bees, the flowers and the trees!" Videl misquoted purposefully.

I groaned in reply, "Shut up."

-

We walked back to the Satan mansion in silence, hand in hand. As we reached the mansion, we found the lights were all off.

"That's funny, there's usually a main hall light on, even this late," Videl whispered.

"You need me to come in?" I asked.

"Nah, I know my way around, I'll see ya later Verto!" She said happily, opening and closing the door. I sighed, _What a night._ I slowly drifted into the air, having a strange feeling going by my senses. I made my way to about a thousand up, and the mansion not quite as impressive that high up. Slowly I flew towards West City under the cloudy night sky. I found myself not moving very fast towards home, and I simply coasted through the air. A nagging feeling became present, followed by strange fluctuations in the air again. I felt compelled to go back to the mansion.

My own version of an Inner Krillin was happy to provide some insight, '_Well of course dummy, you just kissed her!_'

'_Yeah, but I don't often feel compelled to go back once I leave!' _I argued. Inner Krillin shut his mouth, he knew I was right. My thoughts drifted to the Zergling we found earlier, and it reminded me of android Twenty-one for some reason. The vision of Twenty-one having Videl by the throat entered my mind once again. I watched it without interference, Videl was held by the no-longer gloved hand. But then the hand changed into a purple colored claw, and the body changed into a purple skinned and hideous dog thing. I saw a Zergling that had Videl up by the claw, ready to slice her head off. That's when it hit me, I had to go back. I powered up and flew back to the mansion quickly, fear running down my face.

I landed in front, and the door was still open. _That's funny, she closed it._ I spotted some sort of maid running down the street a moment later, answering that question. I entered cautiously, eyes darting towards the shadows for any signs of movement and seeking out any ki fluctuation. I searched for Videl's ki as well, but she seemed to have masked it so I couldn't track her down precisely. That and Buu's weird energy signal was making it difficult to sense anything else. I lifted into the air and floated through the many halls slowly, eyes darting in the darkness.

_There's definitely something or someone here that isn't supposed to be here. _I could have flipped on a light, or made one with a ki ball, but then my position could be given away if I did that, and I would lose a tactical advantage. That was something Vegeta had taught me and Trunks pretty well by using Capsule Corp as a dark tomb and playing seek and destroy. I knew flying fast would give off too much ki, so I kept it to a float and very slight movement. Soon, not even the Satan City lighting illuminated anything for me, and I had to go on wit and cunning myself in the blackness of the mansion. I entered a large dark hallway with little in the way of doors, some kind of tunnel through the lower parts of the mansion. I grazed a few walls on the way down, but nothing sounded. I began to smell traces of extremely fresh blood in the air. I gritted my teeth and hoped that it wasn't the worst case scenario.

I got about halfway down the hall from what I could tell, going on ki sense alone, before I noticed a breathing sound coming rather heavily in the air. Then I heard another start up in a similar rhythm. Then another, and soon I detected four distinct patterns that were completely similar to each other, but to no other animal or human I ever knew. I heard a new pattern form directly ahead of me, with more of a ki signal behind it. Slowly that ki signal began to unravel itself, until I knew whom it belonged to. With that done, I directed my attention to the heavy breathing, and I saw four pairs of glowing eyes lock onto me and the figure just a few feet ahead of me in the hall. I began to charge a ki ball in my hands, without lighting it yet, right away all four pairs of glowing greens were set to me. _So, they can sense energy too._

"Videl, move now!" I whispered. I fired the ki ball just as she moved out of the way, making it explode in the middle of the four breathing sounds, showing me exactly what I expected to see. I grabbed her hand and flew towards the other side of the hall quickly.

"How did you know?" she gasped.

"That connection I have with you is starting to get pretty handy you know, and we ran into one of those today already. I recognized the breathing pattern," I said, hearing the creatures start after us, but we had a pretty good head start for someone without night vision.

"I masked my ki perfectly, how could you tell where I was?"

"Not sure, must have been guided subconsciously, but let's not fret about that. How do you get the lights on in this, place?" I asked, just as the lights came on when I said the words. I stopped and stepped in front of Videl, waiting for my enemies to come down the hallway. Four figures soon ran up to us, stopping short and preparing to attack. It was just as I thought, four with purple skin, claws, and barely any fur at all with a bony and muscled up exterior. Four Zerglings.

"What the hell are those?!" Videl gasped. I couldn't blame her, anyone would have reacted this way.

"Go back and wake your dad and Buu! Tell him you seem to have lost a few maids or butlers, we'll check it out once these four go down. It's pretty tight in here so I may have to fight them head on, go now!" I shouted, powering up a little more than Vegeta had against the one he beat earlier. The Zergling mouths were drooling, almost foaming now. All four charged without fear. I dodged past the first one and hammered the second one with a chop to the back. The third one received a kick as well as the fourth. Ending up on the other side, I charged ki into my fingertips. The first two had recovered and were coming at me, one moving right on the heels of the other, and lining up nicely.

I charged up a little more power and fired, "Special beam cannon!" I shouted, pointed straight at the first Zergling. The beam cut right through it starting at the head and going out the rear, striking the next one right away and putting it down too. The other two quickly charged forward side by side this time. I held up my palms and drew them back in anticipation.

"Destructive waves!" I shouted, as two ki waves flowed from my hands. I aimed a little high just in case they jumped. One did and the blast engulfed it. The other one somehow ducked under and got it's back burned halfway off, literally. Even the bones and blood vessels were showing just where it had met my blast, halfway lobbed off and everything. It ignored the pain and leapt at me, swiping its claws just as I was pulling my arms back to guard. I spun as it went by, blasting it when it landed and killing the last one. A line of blood formed on my cheek, the little bastard had managed to cut me pretty good. I sensed Satan and Videl coming back, but Buu was still sleeping somewhere.

"Oh my god, what the hell are those things?" Satan asked first.

"Zerglings, nasty little creatures too from what I've seen," I said, kicking one atop another to clear the path. Videl and Satan slowly walked up to them.

Satan nervously stepped past, "Are they dead?"

"Yeah, I got em. C'mon, let's see what happened down here!" I said, leading the way down the path. We reached the end where I found Videl and the Zerglings, and the floor had red all over it. The butler lay sprawled on the ground, bleeding out it seemed. He was long past dead, his neck had been broken and his head was turned all the way around.

I ignored the body, "What's behind this door?"

"An old training room I have. Haven't used it in probably about five years," Satan said, double taking at the body.

"Okay, I'm going to open it, stand back!" Videl and Satan complied and I bashed open the door, sending the door flying to the other side of the room I just opened. An overly grotesque smell hit me the instant I did, and I sneezed by reaction.

"Oh man, what is that!" Videl cringed.

"Smells like someone dropped the bomb!" Satan suggested. I ignored the stench as best I could and floated into the room. It held an upper level that we were on with a railing, but the lower level seemed to be emitting the stench.

"Lights on!" Satan shouted. The room lights came on, drawing a hiss from below. I saw ten Zerglings marching around on a purple, smelling surface that seemed to be alive itself.

"What the hell?" Videl shouted this time. _Question of the day._ In the middle of the room lay some kind of structure, it stood up about twenty feet in the huge room and seemed to have some kind of dark green hole inside of it that glowed brightly. The Zerglings saw us and hissed and growled wildly.

"Oh man, I don't want any part of those things!" Satan said.

"I don't blame you either. Vegeta and I saw one of these things rip a few humans apart pretty easily. Get out of the room, I need to seal it and destroy those things!" I ordered. I recognized the green structure, it was one that could transport Zerg to its location from far away, and meaning reinforcements would be easy as long as they were on the planet. I scowled as I floated just above it and pulled my arms backwards. I decided that the odd structure needed to go first.

"Galic Gun!" I shouted, shooting the red beam straight at the canal so to speak. I hit dead on and it exploded after a few seconds, sending a huge mesh of organic material splattering about. The Zerglings went into some kind of frenzy and started jumping up the smooth walls to get to me. I charged ki into my hands and unleashed a rapid-fire blast attack, hitting each one multiple times and killing them with the first hits. As soon as the creatures were dead, I blasted the remains of the purple matter on the ground, just in case. It seemed to be receding anyway once it's structure was gone, but I wanted to make sure. With the canal gone and the Zerglings dead, I made my way back up the hall toward Videl and Mr. Satan, firing a blast behind me on the way out to seal up the tunnel.

-

"Yeah Bulma, can you put Vegeta on?" Mr. Satan bravely asked while Videl was bandaging my face.

"What do you want?!"

"Yeah uh, Vegeta? Verto and Videl are back over here, and some of my maids and servants were killed by some kind of vicious animals. Verto said they were Zerglings or something, you know anything about em? Whoa, that's weird, he hung up!"

"He didn't hang up, give it a few seconds," I muttered. Sure enough, the door flew open as Vegeta charged in at Super Saiyan two, powering down just as quickly.

"There were Zerglings here boy, as in more than one?" Vegeta demanded. I filled him in on the fourteen Zerglings I found, plus the canal in the room that would have been a staging point for an attack had I not found it.

"Good work boy, the woman is still collecting data on the one we killed earlier, and we have a mission tomorrow. For tonight, remain here and protect the Satan girl, they may still come back to find out why their supply line is gone. Be back at Capsule Corp at ten so we can get going!" Vegeta ordered before stomping out and slamming the door behind him.

"Wow, what a people person he is," Satan muttered aloud.

"What is your mission tomorrow?" Videl asked.

"We have to make a trip to my world in the past, there is information about the Zerg there. I know a lot about them, but it's a distant memory that I need refreshment on," I explained, sagging slightly on the couch.

"Man, all your guy's talk about different dimensions and stuff can really mess a guy's head up, I'm going back to bed," Satan said, much to my delight.

"I'm gonna stay up and make sure Verto doesn't need stitches for that nasty cut!" Videl smirked slightly, causing Satan to chuckle.

"That's the last thing that boy will need," Satan laughed as he walked up the stairs. We waited for the sounds of snores to fill the house before speaking again.

"Sooo, how do you know of these things anyway?" Videl asked again.

"Well, just like Pokemon is a TV show here and there, well the Zerg were on a computer game I used to play a lot. It was a strategy warfare game involving armies from space, Zerg was one of three races on there you could play. These Zerg are almost identical to the ones on there. That's how I knew about them," I said, not noticing Videl had taking this chance to slip her hand around my shoulder.

"What were the other races?" she asked.

"Terran and Protoss I think. Terrans were basically humans with advanced technology if I recall," I said.

"Hmm, well what about this?" Instantly my tail was grabbed.

"Videl, please don't," I begged.

"Hey, thought you would want a reward for saving my butt again, and giving me such a great kiss. I'm just repaying the debt," she cooed slightly, rubbing her hand across the tail gently. There was an instant reaction, and my body went out of control the more she rubbed. My eyes rolled backwards a little and feral sounds came behind it. My breath shuddered a little bit, as my arms and legs started to twitch a little bit and my ki suddenly poured out. There was a sudden urge to kill something and I did my best to surpress it. Videl's facial reaction changed to fear and she promptly stopped. Whatever was happening to me took a moment to finally break, and she relaxed just as I did. When I did, I was on cloud nine, a feeling that lasted quite a little while too.

"Videl," I whispered.

"Shhhh, just go to sleep. Sorry, I won't do any more," she whispered in my ear. Soon after, I fell asleep with my head rested against her thigh. I woke up in the middle of the night briefly, realizing that my underwear was a bit wet, and it wasn't cause I pissed on myself. Blushing furiously, I sagged back off to sleep, shaking my head at what she had done. At the same time I was relieved that it didn't go farther than that, because I simply wasn't sure what my instincts were trying to do.


	12. TJGA

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 11: TJGA**

I stirred on the Satan's black leather couch; its smooth and cold surface slowly roused me into my surroundings and reminded me of why I was there in the first place. I heard a ticking around in front of my feet, coming from a large type of grandfather clock. It read eight-thirty, a little time before the tough day really started. I heard something breathing on the other side of the room, looking up to see the dog Bee sleeping softly on the ground. His now bigger size got my attention for the day, reminding me to scan for scattered ki signals. I found none, but Buu's signal interfered a little bit. Speaking of the demon, he came into the room with arms loaded with snacks and candy, flopping down on the other couch and grabbing the TV remote. He didn't notice I was awake yet, and tried to flip the TV on. It didn't work, mostly likely needed batteries or something. Buu took a minute to figure this out, before throwing the remote down and cursing at it. He then flipped his forelock around and magically made it glow pink. And just like that, the TV flipped on, to apparently his favorite channel as he started to laugh and cackle loudly in his child like voice. It was unfortunately the same show that Trunks liked so much: Pokemon.

"Buu really like when the bad guy go boom!" he said out loud as a turtle was set on fire. He didn't seem to notice my piercing glare at the screen.

"Buu, do you know about the bad things that were in the basement? The purple colored animals?" I asked, startling him.

"Yes, Buu know, me thought they were Satan's. But they meaner than Bee, and they stayed in the big purple floor room down there. Buu no like them, but they never bother Buu!"

"Next time you see one Buu, kill it. They are dangerous creatures, and would hurt Satan and Bee if you don't," I warned.

Buu's face turned into a confused frown, but he nodded, "Okay, Buu do!" he replied before laughing at the screen and shoving candy in his mouth.

I looked at him strangely, "Don't you want any more information?"

"No, I know they not beat Buu! Buu beat them!" _I guess that will have to do, as long at he is aware._

"Well I don't know if they're coming back Buu, I blew up the room and all of the creatures there. That's just a warning to you, okay big guy?"

"Okay, Buu watch out for bad things!" I sighed and got up to a sitting position. _Well it looks like what the Kai's and Dabura said are true, the Zerg really are coming to Earth, and we're the only resistance that can stand against them. Granted it was easy to beat those small Zerglings, but I know the Zerg have more agents then just those, many more._

"Hey Buu, when the Zerg come to Earth, we're going to need your help too. Some are already here; probably scouts and that's no surprise. But when the big invasion arrives, can we count on you to help out?" I asked.

"Yeah, Buu help!" I nodded to him as I stood up and felt relieved. I walked towards the kitchen, seeing a couple of maids and cooks running around in there.

The apparent head maid noticed me after a moment, "Good morning, you're that sweet young date Miss Videl brought home aren't you, are you hungry?" I grinned back at them, _Stupid question, very stupid question._

**-**

I found that Videl had already gone to school, but the servant staff still gave me a good size meal, jaw dropping for them. I left an hour later to get back to Capsule Corp as I was looking forward to going back to my planet; even if it was only for a short time. I was also dreading it, I knew if I went back now then I'd want to stay and prevent Frieza from blowing it up in the first place. I also didn't feel very keen on leaving this Earth with the chance of more Zerg running around, but we did need the information. I flew back to West City quickly, anxious to get a move on. Landing, I went inside and upstairs. Vegeta was still in the gravity room, so I had a little time. I entered my room, and immediately sought out different clothes. Since I wasn't completely sure where the time machine was going to put us, or for that matter how we would enter, I chose a simple black T-shirt with matching training pants and boots. Then I walked downstairs to see Vegeta, Trunks, and Goten waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

"Any more signs of the Zerg?" Vegeta asked.

"No, I warned Buu about them, but he said he had seen them before. Dunno if we can really rely on him that well, but he said he would kill any Zerg he saw," I said, hands in my pockets.

"Well, the woman wanted to explain this machine of hers before we get going. I've already figured it out though, so I guess you're the only one who will learn anything. She apparently thinks that we should be completely prepared for anything, but yet guarantees her machine to work perfectly. I don't care just as long as she shuts up," he groaned.

"Hey Dad, can me and Goten come too?" Trunks asked. _I was wondering when that was going to come out. _

"No son, this isn't a mission for fun, and we won't be staying. The boy has enough to think about as it is," Vegeta said, noticing my lack of excitement.

"Aw! How come he gets to go and we don't?" Trunks whined along with Goten.

"Because it's his planet, and you two will cause havoc! You do every other day!" Vegeta roared. Mom came walking in just then, silencing the boys' whining.

"Well Vegeta, Verto, come with me please, I need to show you what to do!" she said simply. We followed Mom down the halls to her lab, and found an extra room attached to it inside.

"This is the new time machine," she said, holding a wrench proudly.

"I know that Woman!" Vegeta barked. I quickly prepped for the explosion.

"I WAS TELLING VERTO, SOMETIMES HE IS A LITTLE BIT INTERESTED IN THINGS I DO AROUND HERE! UNLIKE SOME PEOPLE WHO JUST TRAIN ALL DAY!" _Ouch, did she have to scream so loud? _

"All right woman, hurry it up!" Vegeta said in retreating fashion.

"I planned on just modifying the old one into a two seater or something, but that was going to be tough so I came up with something different. I have tested it to know for sure, so don't worry. You enter this machine and punch in your co-ordinances, and then the machine sends you there. But before you go, you put these on!" she explained as she held up a bracelet of some kind, "These are like mini-time machines that work in according to the main one. All you have to do is travel with it on, and then press the red button on the side to bring you back here. You need to be careful with these, I only have two and they are pretty fragile," she said, putting the bracelet back on the table.

"So in other words, without those you can't get back correct?" I asked.

"Yep, now these watch things are kinda like Goku's instant transmission. So even if there is one left, any number of people can travel back here just by contact to the user. That's no problem, but I made two just in case anyway, I know Vegeta likes to blow stuff up a lot," she snickered.

Vegeta rolled his eyes a little, "Woman, we're not going on a vacation here. According to the boy, it won't take very long to pick up the things we need and get back here. I am not planning to stay away long, I'm a bit concerned about these Zerg and where they are on the planet. It is highly unlikely we would find only one location when we found a stray Zerg five hundred miles away."

She snorted slightly, "Right, you're just worried about little old me and your soon to be new daughter!" Vegeta grumbled at that comment by his wife.

"Well come on you two, I need to pack you some emergency supplies just in case. I know what you're going to say Vegeta, but there's always a chance that something goes wrong with this, time travel is risky. I already programmed the correct place and time into the computer, so all you need to do is grab your ticket home and push the button inside the chamber," Mom explained, motioning for us to follow her back to the lobby for supplies and such.

**  
Interlude 11.1 -Sabotage**

"Trunks, I can't see!" Goten whined. He and Trunks lowered their ki to nearly nothing and listened to Bulma explain the time machine mechanics. Once they were gone to get supplies, the boys snuck into the lab.

"See Goten, you just need to put in something here, and then press the button, then were gone. Then Dad and Verto will have the way back and we just ride along! Now to just hide in here! Damn, it's just a circle in here, they'll see us for sure!"

"So Trunks, how does the machine thingy know where to go? Your mom didn't say!"

"Yeah she did, you just have too much space between your brain and ears! Dad probably has the code memorized anyway. I saw him messing with it last night, he'll punch it in a number and letter code like this!" Trunks said, punching in numbers and letters in a twelve-digit code, replacing the one that was already there.

"Oh, I get it, then press the big red button!" Goten pointed, almost touching it.

"No dummy, we have to wait! Do you wanna get stuck somewhere without any food?" Goten barely thought that over before pulling his arm back and away.

"What are you two doing in here?!" A loud voice shouted harshly.

**-**

Vegeta and I walked back to the time room with the supplies Mom had given us, packed away in capsules. We suddenly heard some commotion and stepped into the chamber to see what it was. Trunks and Goten were hovering around the activation computer and it was not a good sign. We stepped in silently, before Vegeta startled them.

"What are you two doing in here!" he shouted.

"Uh nothing!" Trunks lied badly.

"Bullshit, you two are still not going and that's final!" Vegeta roared.

"What is going on in here?" Mom said, coming to the doorway.

"Dad and Verto won't let us go with them!" Trunks whined, trying to appeal to the other parent.

"Honey, its too dangerous, maybe next time okay? Now come on out, it would be boring for you anyway!"

"See Trunks, told ya they wouldn't let us go! At least they stopped us before I got into another one of your dumb ideas!" Goten said, showing a rare sign of intelligence.

"Oh its my idea? Like you didn't want to go, you've been talking about it all morning!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

The argument quickly turned into a wrestling match, with the boys rolling all over the floor.

I sighed, "Come on you two, go spar in the gravity room or something!" They continued, eventually coming to their feet and rushing each other, jumping all over the room, and getting dangerously close to the control panel.

"Stop it, RIGHT NOW!" Vegeta barked. The boys stopped, but not before Trunks punched Goten straight in the gut. He was forced back a little bit, and hit the panel dead on the red button, before the panel cracked and flew apart.

"Good job Goten, now you broke it!" Trunks shouted. Some kind of energy barrier formed directly behind me, where the doorway was, and Mom was on the other side of it.

"The machine is turning on!" she shouted. I then realized something rather bad, there wasn't a bracelet on my wrist, nor Vegeta's, they were still in Mom's lab on a table.

"Shit!" I said aloud. Mom ran over and grabbed them and tossed them at the barrier. I held my arms out to catch them, but when they hit the barrier, they exploded in a huge puff of smoke.

"Oh no!" Mom screamed as she pulled her hair slightly. The room turned bright white, and then blue, because Vegeta decided to blast the thing right then and there to stop the process. He aimed for the computer, and blew it apart. But the barrier remained up, and the machine sound continued to build higher and higher. This kept up until the room suddenly went pitch black, and my stomach felt as if it were being turned inside out. Vegeta, Trunks and Goten were suffering a similar predicament, all three bent over slightly. The feeling passed within about ten seconds, and I opened my eyes.

We were standing in some kind of field, but the dirt was red with no grass. I looked up to see the sky was also a shade of red, slightly lighter. The gravity was different too; I guessed it was about ten times that of earth. The air was a bit thicker, but nothing to worry about. I glanced around, we were in some kind of desert surrounded by small mountains, and the wind was blowing a little bit, kicking up red dust.

"This isn't your planet," Vegeta said.

"No kidding!" I said in anger.

"Whoa Trunks, where are we?" Goten asked.

"How should I know?" Trunks grumbled. I used my ki sense to help me scan the area, only to find that most of the power levels on this planet were way higher than any normal human.

"Do you know where we are boy?" Vegeta asked, but he seemed to be struggling to keep a scowl on his face.

"No." I said, giving him a strange look.

"Do you know Trunks?" Goten asked.

"What, no! I told you I didn't know dummy!"

"Well, you're the one that pressed in that long number right before your dad showed up! I thought you knew where to go!" Goten said.

I gave them both a deathly glare "I hope you two are happy, because now were stuck, wherever this is, with no way home!" I shouted at both of them, stomping in their direction. They both cringed in fear, backing up slightly. Vegeta's arm stayed my explosion, a look of contentment with the situation.

"I know we will find a way home, don't worry about that. And as for where we are," he suddenly smirked brightly.

"Where are we Vegeta?" I asked, curious now.

"I don't expect you or the brats to know, but any other Saiyan would know exactly where we are!" I glanced around again, this time taking in the view a little slower. The red environment and something in the air was driving the beast inside me. I felt slightly excited, and I wanted to pound something into the ground until dust remained. I wanted to fight some insanely powerful beast even if I lost and got killed. I took a few deep breaths, looking back at him for the answer.

"Where are we Dad?"

"The birthplace of myself and our ancestors, Planet Vegita!"

**-**

"Incredible, by some blind luck, you managed to get us to a place worth taking a vacation at," Vegeta chuckled slightly as Trunks looked at the ground.

"Sorry sir," he muttered.

"Well, if luck holds. The woman will already be building a replacement time machine and will use the co-ordinances on the computer to find us," Vegeta said, slightly at ease with the situation.

"Uh, hate to rain on your parade, but I don't think that will work," I said.

"Why not boy, are you doubting your adoptive mother's abilities?"

"No, it's not that, but you kinda blew up the computer before we ended up here," I said. Vegeta snorted and turned his back to us, I could tell he wasn't happy with himself over that.

"If were on planet Vegita, then is there a chance we could hop a ride to either Namek or Earth? Then can't we just use the dragonballs to get back to our time?" I asked.

Vegeta turned back around, "It may take a little time, but yes we could without much trouble. However we shouldn't just barge in and take one, they would likely blow it up out in space. And we don't have any Vegitan or Frieza credits in which to purchase one, the currency used here," Vegeta said.

"How would we acquire credits then, other than thievery?" I asked. Goten and Trunks inched a little closer, but remained away from me.

"How else boy? Jobs! But the job market here is much different. As I understood it, the main source of income is army service, rather its training and maintaining the barracks, or planet clearing for Frieza," he said. At the words _planet clearing_, I immediately scowled in disgust.

"Before the destruction, Saiyan males about the age of four Zurals, or eight earth years, were generally put into the academies for schooling and primarily fight training. Depending on how they progress, they would enter the regular army anywhere from age six to age ten Zurals. Anyone entering after the seven Zural mark usually skipped the academies as most were trained by a noble. They were required to enter the army and typically were put into planet clearing like any other. After fifteen Zurals of service, if they lived, they could come home and work in the barracks, training younger Saiyans that had not entered yet. Females could enter the army as well, but it was not required as they bear children. By the way, Males were not supposed to mate once in the planet clearing business, however once they come home and stay with the main army they could. This rule was usually ignored, especially with the arranged matings, and half the soldiers would mate with each other as long as they were not on the same clearing team," Vegeta explained. The boys gagged slightly at the word mate, but then set about torturing a strange frog-like creature that hopped by. _This speech sounds rehearsed for some reason. Especially if he brought up that mating crap again._

"What I think we should do, is first register as off-planet civilians so we can get a place to stay. Then to get credits, we send you with a team to clear planets for trade. The brats and I will stay here and see what we can dig up around here while you pile up some money. Then we can either get a transport or buy a ship ourselves and get to Namek or Earth," Vegeta suggested.

"You want me to go clear planets?" I asked in a low voice.

Vegeta narrowed his eyes, "Yes boy, it isn't quite like it sounds. Besides maybe this will teach you how to be a Saiyan a little better. As ruthless as you are in battle with your established enemies, you still have a soft spot that needs removed from those who are not. Being around other Saiyans on this planet will do you some good, see if that mean streak in you still works," Vegeta scowled at me.

I sighed, "Fine, but I still don't like it."

"Would you rather we remain stuck here, or better yet, get blown out of space? Then not be able to get back to our earth to stop the Zerg, would that be better?" Vegeta shouted in anger. I didn't answer, just grunted.

"Now first thing we must do is lower our power levels, very low. Once we find a scouter, we can give you a power level to go by. A lot of things are determined by how strong you are around here," Vegeta said, lowering his ki to miniscule levels. I complied and did so as well, Goten and Trunks followed our lead.

"If I remember right, the main port should be that way!" Vegeta pointed to the distance on our right. I couldn't tell what direction was which yet, so I just followed his lead into the air.

**-**

The terrain didn't change very much from a red desert. A few bones of random animals and random size could be seen, but that was it. We up to a large city, and landed just inside it in a back alley area. I could see a few Saiyans huddled in the nooks and crannies, the equivalent of bums with tails. The roads were mostly dirt, with a few patches of a sticky tar like substance scattered about. Vegeta stopped at one and scooped some into his gloved hand. Then he ran it through his hair, making it slide to the side more, and then hung a bang over his head, making a hairstyle similar to mine. The tar made it stick to where he put it, and made it look grubby compared to his regular hair. He then picked up some more and motioned Goten over and fixed his wild hair as well. He didn't mold it into any style, just pulled the wild sides upwards a little, so he didn't look like himself.

"Just about every Saiyan recognizes the royal hairstyle down to a half millimeter difference, no use taking a chance right now," he explained as he did up Goten's hair to be similar. He left Trunks alone, though somehow I knew that would get brought up. It was after all, purple.

"Keep your level lowered at all times boys, I'm surprised the scouters didn't pick us up out in the desert, but they didn't scan out there often. I'm not quite sure what the exact date and time is for here, but I'd guess it's at least three months before Frieza destroys the planet. We can't stay long and we must be careful." Vegeta explained, sounding like he had planned this ahead of time. He started walking again, this time out into a main street and towards a large sign with strange language.

"Where we going now?" I asked.

"Low level registration."

"Why low level? I thought you said a lot of things depended on power levels, wouldn"t higher be better?" I asked.

"Because there's less of a chance to be discovered if your hanging with low levels, and I think I know what team will need a new member," Vegeta explained as he walked towards the doors. I had to blink twice at that, _How could he know that?_ We went inside, and saw a strange alien at the front counter. He was a sickly green color with an orange Mohawk, wearing armor with a red cape.

"Yes?"

"We need to register for room and board, we're off-planets," Vegeta began as if he had memorized the lines.

"Name please," Mohawk guy said.

Vegeta smirked slightly, "Goku." My mind did a little flip, and Trunks had to put a clamp on Goten's mouth right away.

"And how old is your oldest son?"

"Eight and a half zurals."

"Name please?" he asked me this time.

"Verto."

"Okay, power level?" _Aw, Damn! I don't think a digit for me exists!_

"Twenty-two hundred," Vegeta said quickly.

"Kind of strong for a low level," the guy noted.

Vegeta's fake smile emerged, "What can I say, I'm proud of my son!" _Yeah thanks._ I noticed Vegeta started to suppress his ki even more under mine, but not much more.

"Okay, will your other two sons be staying with you until they are of age to begin barracks training?"

"Yes, and send all of the credits gained to my account," Vegeta finished. _Damn, they didn't even ask what the boys' names were, but then they probably don't care._ The Mohawk clerk pressed a button on his desk, and the ceiling opened up above me, dropping clothes directly to my hands. It was a green Saiyan bodysuit with full sleeves, dark colored armor, a scouter, gloves and boots.

"Here's your key card, be back in about an hour so we can find a spot for him," he ordered, pointing out the door. Vegeta nodded slightly and headed out the door, Goten, Trunks and I in pursuit.

-

He led us down the street a bit until we hit some kind of housing development. After a few turns, we came up to a really bad looking metal door. He put the card into a slot where the handle should have been and slid it out. The door opened on it's own, revealing a small apartment of some kind.

"Go change into those, but leave me the scouter," Vegeta ordered. I was starting to get irritated by all this, but if we were to get home I guess I had to follow through with it. What was strange was how Vegeta seemed to know what to do even though he lived most of his life off his planet. I changed out of my Earth clothes and into my new Saiyan bodysuit, noting the wonderful stretchiness of it, as well as the hole in the back for my tail. The armor, to my great dismay, had overhanging shoulder pads and hip pads on them. But this wasn't really a time to be picky, Vegeta explained on the way that the usual style for low levels was darker colored and old style armor. I understood the reasoning of stating that we were posing as low levels just fine, but there had to be a different reason behind it. Elite teams would probably made more money in one trip then I would in three. I put on the boots and looked at myself in the mirror. All I needed was the scouter and I looked like a planet clearing Saiyan, I wanted to vomit at the thought of it. _I just hope I can be forgiven. It's in the best of interests, and come to think of it they would have died anyway._ I stepped out and into what I had dubbed the living room. The couch was falling apart and there was a chair that looked like it had been set on fire at least five different times.

"Boy, I told them you had a level of twenty-two hundred, but we need to establish that now!" Vegeta said, putting the scouter on his ear and over his eye. He turned it on, pressing a few buttons.

"Change language mode to basic," he told the scouter.

"Preparing for new user, state name please," the computer said.

He motioned for me to speak to the scouter as he handed it to me, "Verto."

"Set mode and command for Verto, language basic. User power level readout now please." Vegeta took the scouter back and pressed the main button again. The target set directly on me, and jumbled some numbers around.

"Forty-five, a bit too high boy. Suppress your power more!" Vegeta barked. I did so, and I saw the number fall as I did, until I hit somewhere near twenty-two hundred just as the scouter did.

"Now remember how that feels, you're going to need to be there a lot and will need to fight while suppressing it. I know you're completely capable of doing that, but there's your fair warning. Now it can go up a bit higher as you complete missions, but it can't be by more than a hundred or two or your cover will likely be blown, so watch it. Now come, we need to meet your captain, he should be arriving shortly," Vegeta said, pulling me towards the door. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a capsule.

"Boys, do not destroy the place while we are gone, here's an incentive!" Vegeta ordered as he tossed them what looked to be a food capsule, before handing me what appeared to be a smaller one.

"What's this?" I asked as he opened the door.

"Senzu beans. There's five there, you shouldn't need them, but the woman was pretty demanding about it," he muttered as we walked out the door into the filthy street.

"Wait a sec, how do you know that my captain should be there soon and all this other stuff? I thought you said you were rarely on your own planet, never mind in the low level dwellings!"

"That fact shall be revealed very soon boy, just trust me on this," he said, not turning around. I sighed and followed, Vegeta usually did know what he was doing. I slid on the scouter, finishing the look on the way. The screen was green in color, with yellow text and numbers.

-

We made our way back to the registration center, telling the clerk that we were back and what not.

"Please wait here until we can contact an available low level captain," the clerk pointed to a few chairs, but we remained standing. My senses picked up a stronger than average ki heading our way, at least the average I was starting to adjust to. A few others were coming this way as well, about the same, maybe a little less. The door swung open, and a Saiyan woman a little shorter than me stepped in, wearing pink with black armor and one shoulder strap, no overhanging pads. When I first set eyes on her, my heart fluttered.

"I'm still not sure about dragging me into this Fasha. We don't need another crewmember, and knowing our luck we'd finally get pasted with some elite that thinks he overrules everyone!" a grumpy voice said behind her.

"Oh, can it Bardock! At least we can look around this time instead of them assigning one to us!" she chuckled at him.

"And it will take forever to get a newbie's strength up, if they live," Bardock said as he entered. _Holy shit, Goku's clone just walked through that door!_ He was the spitting image of Goku, the hair, the general body build, the face and chin, everything. The only thing really out of place was a deep scar on his cheek that never appeared to heal, and the armor of course. I recognized him from the Buu fight when he and the other Saiyans came back to fight Frieza and his army, but I hadn't been on Earth at the time. _So this is Goku's father, Bardock._

"Captain Bardock, how did your mission go?" the clerk stood up.

"Fine, we ran into a lot of resistance though, and it took quite a bit longer than we had hoped. A lot of the inhabitants liked to hide and use guerrilla warfare on us. Since have only five, it took a little time," Bardock said to the clerk.

"What can I do for you then sir?"

"My room key first of all. Then give me a list of new troops; we are looking for a possible sixth crewmember. As long as there are some that are worth a damn. No elites unless you have higher orders, I don't care what the mission is," Bardock said, taking a clipboard the clerk handed him.

"So this is the great Bardock?" Vegeta stepped out from behind me. _Uh oh._

"Yeah, I don't consider myself great, except for fighting. What do you want?" he snapped back at the prince, not recognizing him of course.

"Me and my family just came back to Vegita. My mate and I were sent off planet long ago and we decided to bring our offspring back to Vegita, so they could be trained correctly. My eldest son needs a spot on a team and I would be honored if you will accept him," Vegeta said, again like he had expected this to happen. Bardock took a quick glance in my direction before looking back at the clipboard.

"Ah, a low level. Good cause I can't stand upper and elite classes, all of them are too smug for their own good. What's his power level?"

"Twenty-two hundred."

Bardock choked on his tongue, "And you were a low level?"

"Yes, I'm very proud of my son, he surpassed my strength last year!" Vegeta boasted. _Yeah, he probably wouldn't have believed last week. _Bardock pulled out a scouter and pointed it towards Vegeta. It spit out eighteen hundred for a reading, as Vegeta was doing really well on the power hiding, something I never knew him to be that good at. Then again, we had both stayed up late and guarded the kitchen from the boys; we could blend in with the air for hours on end. Bardock gave me another look over, this time more intent on consideration.

Bardock hesitated, "Hmmm, well I kinda do need another crew member. He's been in battles before I presume?"

"Many a time, the planet my mate and I were sent to was a war stricken zone and he had to fight in it since he was two," Vegeta lied. Bardock rubbed his chin, something that was obviously passed on in his bloodline, as I had seen Goku do it a lot.

"Oh come on Bardock, we need another man and he is kinda cute!" The woman known as Fasha elbowed him a bit while giving me the hungry eye.

Bardock seemed to ignore the last part, "Boy, are you aware that my team goes on some of the most dangerous missions that some elites don't even go near?" I nodded, even though it seemed contrary to what Vegeta had stated earlier.

"Good, I'll grant you a temporary spot on my team, depending how well you do. And if you stay alive long enough, you might get some strength in that body," Bardock said, spinning on his heel, "Fasha, you take him back to the dorm and get him settled, I need to visit the woman and then I'll go to the command center to get our next mission!" Bardock ordered, talking to the clerk about some last minute details.

"Good luck boy," Vegeta said, giving me a sly grin and exiting. _Man, how did he know Bardock was going to show up, sure he sticks out a little better than most low levels would, but still._ The answer came through the door barely a half minute later. A big balding brute with an above average power smashed the door open for himself. He had to be the size of a small building, though in reality he was probably about seven to eight feet tall, it was just his bulkiness that startled me. He wore gold and black armor with matching gloves, and what remained of his hair looked like it could fall out any minute. He stepped in and Bardock spun around to see who it was. In stepped a small boy with white and gold armor with a strange symbol on it, dark bodysuit and an orange cape. His hair was a bit untamed, and his bangs needed a slight trim, but the rest of it spiked up into a widow's peak. _So that's how he knew._ Bardock and Fasha dropped to their knees and bowed. I was too startled to react before Fasha pulled my pant leg for me to comply.

"Humph, what a dump! I thought at least low class facilities would be kept better than this place! I should speak to father about this," the tiny version of Vegeta said. He had to be the young prince, he even grunted the same.

"Uh, prince Vegeta, I wasn't expecting you sir!" the clerk stood at attention and saluted.

"You, low class, you're the one called Bardock correct?" Vegeta barked.

"Yes sire!"

"I have a mission I need you to carry out. Normally I wouldn"t call on low class soldiers for such a job, but your service record is, interesting. I need you and your crew to go to planet Treme and make contact with the Treme government. It seems they are having a nasty revolution there and they requested Frieza's help on it. You are to wipe out the rebels, understood?"

"Yes sir, we will depart in the morning!" Bardock stood up and saluted.

"Good, dismissed!" Vegeta barked. Bardock went out the door without another word. Fasha headed for the exit, but had to grab my hand because I couldn't stop staring at the young prince's uncannily likeness to the older version.

**-**

"You know, the prince has killed people for less than just looking at him wrong. I doubt you would last long if he became agitated," Fasha scolded me once we were out of the center.

"Sorry, I just didn't expect to meet the prince on my first day on Vegita," I lied carefully.

"That's okay, some people go their entire lives without meeting him or the king. Even elders," she said.

"You got a name kid?" Bardock asked, staring at me hard.

"Verto," I said, looking up at him. _Man, it's Goku with an attitude._

He grunted slightly, "Well there's a name that I've never heard, at least your shrimp of a father picked a Saiyan name. Fasha, get going to the crew quarters and introduce him to the crew. I'll arrange an additional space pod when I stop by the command center for the mission details," Bardock ordered, spinning around and heading for the housing area.

"Where is he going?" I asked.

"Oh him, it's hard to believe that he actually has a personal life sometimes, but he's going to visit his mate. She's pregnant with his second son," Fasha explained.

"Second son?" I played along, though it did tell me about what timeframe I was in.

"Yeah, his first son was a real winner, he was born a first class. Kind of incredible really, except that first class boys are trained by the high-class nobles and not their own fathers. He turned out a little brat though, his name is Raditz, and he's about seven zurals old now, and his power hasn't quite turned out like they once hoped. His second son is due in a few months. If he's second class, Bardock can train him. But if he's below that, he will get sent off world. I can't imagine that he will be, not with Bardock's strength now. Kind of a shame but that was the law as of thirty zurals ago and it hasn't changed," Fasha said. I looked back towards the housing area, following Bardock's movement with ki sense.

"Anyway kid, can you fly? Even though you're cute and all, I don't want to carry you!" Fasha said with a sly grin.

"Yeah I can fly."

"Good, follow me!" she lifted into the air and took off towards the deeper insides of the large city. I followed, remembering to keep my ki low, but still caught up with her easily. Our flight was silent; I spent most of it looking around at the large city-port. Most of it was pretty run down until we got to the center, then all the buildings were polished nicely and the housing actually looked like it rather than shacks strung together. Fasha pointed out a large dome looking building and descended to its base.

"This is the Desert Rain, the bar and inn for most of us in the army with crews waiting on a mission. The most we're ever here is three days, but Bardock usually has us gone within two. Watch it in here, this isn't the best place to be for a low level kid," Fasha said as she opened the saloon like doors. I followed her inside, noting the fact I had never been in the presence of so many Saiyans. Inside was mostly a large bar and grill type place. There were a lot of Saiyans drinking; others arm wrestling, some eating and basic chit chat. I started to notice the many types of armor, from the dirty and dark for low levels, to the highly polished types that accompanied higher powers, those belonging to elites. Fasha went straight through the crowd, many males began hooting at her. She kept a slight grin on her face during that and kept moving forward. I followed, a little timidly, because the males glared at me, especially the first class and elite types. Then we passed through what appeared to be a mostly females area, some were wearing armor, some just the jumpsuit, or a part of it. All of them though were damn good looking, but I assumed they were also equally deadly_._ Some said hello to Fasha as she went by, a few gave me the suggestive eye, causing me to blush a little bit.

"Hey, a young male like you would look good on my wall!" one said, before stepping out in front of me, cutting me off. She was a big one too, easily as big as Nappa was. She bore 1st class armor, and her power level backed it up, somewhere slightly above my suppressed level. She was very attractive despite her size, and if anything she reminded me of Mom, except her hair was black and she had a tail. Plus, like I said, was much bigger. She made me feel as if I had never had the growth accident.

"Excuse me," I tried to say as polite as I could.

But she stood in my path regardless, "You know, I'm the daughter of a high-class noble! I could make you a very happy man when you're home from missions!" She slowly advanced on me.

"You got the high part right," I said under my breath.

"Why are you bothering with a wimpy low-level, Clerpe? He probably doesn't even know what a ki blast is!" a few female voices rang out the similar line.

Another of her entourage piped in, "Yeah no joke! What's his power level, fifty? You'd probably kill him if you mated him!" I attempted to get by her large form again, only to get shoved into a chair rather harshly by her large hand. _Oh keep that up, please keep that up. No stupid, don't show your strength, its way too high even by their standards!_

"You'd like it if I killed you while mating wouldn't you?" Clerpe asked in a softer tone, her large hand getting closer to my lower extremities than I would have liked at the moment. All of a sudden she was struck from behind and knocked across the room.

"Hands off!" Fasha yelled after her, yanking me out of the chair and to my feet. She stepped in front of me as if to protect me, though I felt kind of insulted by that.

"You bitch!" Clerpe stomped back. Fasha didn't budge an inch, and stared her down, even though she was almost twice her height and easily three times her general size.

"You know, I could have you killed for that!" Clerpe threatened and grinned at the same time.

"And I'll make sure they knew you were trying to court a low level, not to mention a member of Bardock's crew!" Fasha answered.

"That little thing is part of your zombie squad? In that case you can have him, though it is a waste. How long is he gonna last, about a minute?" Clerpe laughed. I scowled and growled slightly, catching her teasing attention.

She grinned slyly, "Oh what's wrong you little runt, did I offend you?" _Maintain control, must maintain control, and keep with the verbal jabs and do not jump to the physical ones!_

"You know what's funny, she's right. It does look pretty bad if you're flaunting with a scrawny low level like me if you supposed to be all high and mighty," I said smugly, satisfied that I got a good line in. She was pissed right away, and started stomping my way. I spun around and kept my grin, I was literally itching for a fight, even if it was with a girl. _Damn, being on planet Vegita is messing me up._

Fasha blocked her path, "Don't even think about it, not if you don't want a piece of me!" I measure both girls' fighting powers, and was a little surprised to learn that Fasha's was higher than the so-called upper class, not by much though.

Clerpe took a minute to think about it, but did back off, "I just don't want to get my hands dirty. Have fun little man, I'm sure she will bore you to death!" Fasha turned back in her original direction and I followed until we reached some kind of elevator. We stepped inside and waited for the doors to close first before speaking again.

"Be careful around there, those higher class females tend to try to coax lower level men in before killing them. And the upper level men like to pick low levels out of the crowd and beat them up on sight, then give them to the women, just for the fun of it," she warned. _Yeah, and they'd get one hell of a surprise when they tried that on me. _

"Why would they do that to fellow soldiers? I'm not really used to this lower and upper class thing yet," I admitted.

"Since you're young and naïve, I'll at least warn you. They do it because they can. Maybe they're just bored and won't accept a dangerous mission so they hang off the walls around here. Get used to bad treatment kid, us lower class soldiers never get any respect, unless its from our commanders," Fasha sounded disgusted. _Time to play along some more._

"So if she's supposed to be stronger than us, how come she didn't try to fight you back there?"

"Because Bardock takes us on such dangerous missions, we tend to come back injured from time to time. No doubt you know a Saiyan's power goes up after every fight, well it goes up a lot after severe near-death injuries. Since you came from a planet of war, that explains how you can be so strong for a third class Saiyan. That's why they don't mess with us much. Those losers in there hardly ever end up in a real fight anymore, but they have learned to leave Bardock and our crew alone. Some learned the hard way," Fasha grinned slightly.

"So the upper class women get a kick out of subduing a lower level man and killing them in the process?" I asked, disgusted at the revelation.

"Yeah, its kinda weird. Sick sadist pleasure I guess. I mean I like it rough too but it's not quite to that extent, at least I won't be killing a partner. They just lure them in with the promise of being mated to a great family house only to kill them while mating. What pisses me off the most is that almost all of them get away with it because us low levels are considered worse than street trash and are virtually ignored," she frowned slightly.

"That isn't right," I growled slightly. The elevator stopped on floor twenty-eight and the door opened up.

"C'mon kid, time to meet your new teammates," she beckoned me to follow.

**Not that they matter, but here ya go:**

**Verto (suppressed): 2200**

**Vegeta (suppressed): 1800**

**Clerpe: 2800**

**Fasha: 3000**

**A/n: Yep, it's the good ol' back to the past routine. The actual chapter title was Time Journey Gone Astray. Try and guess what happens, I dare ya! And Review me!**


	13. Mission

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 12: Mission**

Fasha and I came up to a slightly better looking door than the entire housing area had been, but the halls were messy and stained. She opened the door, revealing a decently sized room, bigger than the house Vegeta had rented out. Inside there were three other Saiyans, one in dark blue armor with a white cloth tied around his arm and hair sticking straight up. He was sitting in a chair with his eyes closed. The other two were at a table, eating a lot of food. One was a large Saiyan that looked in need of a diet. His hair was bull cut and not spiky at all, and he wore a tattered brown bodysuit with blue armor, shoulder straps only. The other was bigger, but not as massive, and he was mostly bald with a little hair sticking out from the back and sides.

"Fasha, any news on our next mission?" The tall one asked in the chair asked.

"Bardock is bringing the details in a little bit, he had to stop by his place," she said, stepping inside a little more so I could come into the room.

"Who's the kid?" the fat one asked in between fist fulls.

"He's our new team mate, his name is Verto," Fasha said for me, stepping aside.

"A rookie huh, great. Did Bardock pick him out or did they just assign one like usual?"

"No, Bardock got to pick him out," Fasha said.

"Rookie, what's your power level?"

"Twenty-two hundred," I grumbled as I finally got to say something.

The other two choked on their food, "And you're a low class?" I frowned slightly at this; they didn't have much room to talk.

"Don't take it personally Rookie, but there isn't too many inexperienced low levels with power levels over four hundred," the big one in the chair said, getting up and walking over, extending his hand, "I'm Tora, Bardock's second in command. Don't sweat it, Bardock may seem a bit, off, but he really is a good leader. That is Shugesh and Borgos across from him," Tora pointed at the table respectively. They grunted in between bites of food for a greeting, earning a chuckle from me.

"So how much training have you had Rookie?" Tora asked. _Okay, remember what Vegeta told you to say. _

"Plenty, on the planet I was raised on there was a huge civil war going on. I started getting involved when I was about five, which is about two and a half Zurals according to, father. We won the war a few years ago," I explained the lie, hoping it would fly. Vegeta had made me memorize this before he dropped me at the registration station.

"Ah, that was planet Bluron wasn't it? We heard about that one, no one wanted to go there and help the rebels. It was believed Frieza would have to go himself until a small Saiyan family managed to turn the tide on a full moon," Tora said. I nearly fainted, _Damn, Vegeta planned this really good, now I know he had to have planned it ahead of time. I better play along best I can, I'd hate to ruin his fun and screw up all time and space because of it._

"Yeah that's the one, but it's not a place I really want to visit again. The rebels had a bad habit of mistaking us for the government, something I ended up in medical a lot for," I trailed off that lie with a slight grin.

"That explains your higher power level I guess, you'll fit in with us. We get beat up a lot too, well we used to anyway, now we give out the beatings," Shugesh exclaimed from the table, an empty dish in front of him. I felt a little more sure of myself, _yeah I'm sure I can keep this up, as long as I don't have to fake getting hurt. That may draw some questions._

"Okay Rookie, your bunk is in that room there next to Fasha's, and don't pay attention when she mumbles in her sleep or jumps into your bed. She likes to pretend she has a mate!" Tora laughed, before Fasha hit him sharply.

I chuckled, "Do me a favor though Tora, sir. Don't call me Rookie, it's Verto."

Tora laughed a little, "Sorry, it's a habit. I'll do my best not to if you do your best not to call me sir. If you want anything to eat there should be some grub left in the cool storage over there, along with some wine." Since I had eaten at Satan's mansion, I wasn't really hungry. I wasn't much of a drinker either, Saiyan or human, so I simply declined and sat at the table in silence.

**-**

The crew spent most of the night telling me random stories and jokes about each other, including their respective power levels at this point in time. Tora was the second strongest at fifty-five hundred, high elites only reached that level according to him. Shugesh and Borgos were nearly even with each other at forty-four hundred and forty-two hundred respectively. Fasha was considered the low end of the group at three thousand flat, but she had an attitude that rivaled Chichi and Videl put together.

"Well I guess since you're the lowest now we can't pick on Fasha for it anymore. By the way, did she explain how training goes when were on leave from missions?"

"No."

"Well, we're supposed to each spar with each other in according to strength. Borgos and Shugesh spar each other cause they are so close, and I usually get Bardock. You will get Fasha most of the time, because of your lower power, but Bardock will train you also. Since he's the captain he can decide who gets who," Tora explained. _More like training in how to hold back and look weak,_ I thought with a slight door swung opened and smacked the wall harshly, leaving an already good size hole crumbling away.

"Bardock," Tora announced.

"I've got our mission, leaves tomorrow. We're going to planet Treme on orders from Prince Vegeta and Frieza. We're to help the government take out the revolution that sprung up there," he explained.

"Treme, that could get ugly with the Rookie over there. Maybe he should hang back a bit on this one," Shugesh suggested, before catching my slight distaste.

"We'll evaluate the situation better when we arrive. I couldn't get another pod so you're going to have to share one with Fasha. It's the only one with room, and you two are small enough for a tight fit," Bardock smirked slightly.

"Gee, thanks," I muttered.

"Looks like Fasha might actually get something out of this after all, I hope she doesn't kill him while she's having fun," Shugesh joked.

Fasha picked up a chair and smashed it over his head, "Shut it lard ass!" Shugesh whined in pain for a moment before breaking out in laughter. A sudden thought of a skillet coming out scared me a bit.

Tora bent down to my ear and whispered, "Don't be too frightened kid, she really is a good girl. It's just that most men she comes in contact with get beat up pretty bad if they don't end up dead! That's what happens if you don't let her do what she wants!" _Thanks Tora, I needed to know that,_ I thought as I sighed.

"Yeah kid, if you're lucky maybe she'll mark ya!" Shugesh cracked under pressure of laughter. Even Bardock was laughing now at Fasha's expense. I didn't know much about Saiyan mating habits, Vegeta hadn't explained them yet, but marking had to be part of it, because another chair struck Shugesh.

"Okay you knuckleheads, turn in! We leave at nine hundred hours and I'd like to get a little natural sleep," Bardock ordered, stomping off to a room at the end of the hall and slamming the door.

"That's Bardock for ya," Tora said with a smile. Shugesh and Borgos rose and headed for another room attached to the hall, one that Tora entered a minute or two later.

"Good dreams of battle kid, you're going to need the rest," he said. That left Fasha and me alone in the living room. I couldn't help but feel slightly nervous as I mostly stared at the ground, replaying the day's events through my head like a slideshow. I sensed she was observing me, even though I wasn't doing anything. I glanced at her, seeing a slight smile creep up on her face.

"You haven't told us much about yourself, the strong silent type eh?" Fasha asked.

"I usually don't talk about my past, that's all," I replied.

"That's okay, but I'm pretty open about things. My father beat and raped my mother all the time before he was put to death by the King," she said softly, "You really should get to bed. I know it's hard to with excitement before a battle, but trust me, sleeping on the way sucks," she said, getting up and heading to our room. I shrugged and followed entering the small blue colored room with dirty walls. She shut off the lights in the main rooms as I took off my armor plate. The bed, if you could call it that, was harder than concrete, no pillow and barely a rag for a blanket. Her's looked a little better, but not by much.

"Home sweet home," I muttered as I took off my plate armor and climbed onto it.

She laughed a little as she took off her armor, "I like your style kid." I rolled onto my stomach and laid my head on my arms, letting my tail be loose from its usual waist spot. I sensed she wasn't in her bed yet, as the light was still on, and I just happened to look over as she was taking off her bodysuit. I blushed and turned away in embarrassment, while she giggled slightly.

"We're not bashful around here kid," she ensured while she hit the light and climbed onto her concrete block of a bed set right next to mine.

"Sorry, I'm just not used to other Saiyans yet," I said, as part of that was true.

Fasha laughed slightly, "That's okay, I'll break you of that. Just do me a favor, RELAX! If your this tense while were stuck in that pod together, I'm gonna vaporize you!" _Yeah I'd like you try._ I smiled and attempted to get what sleep I could, it had been an exhausting few hours of the day.

-

"Wake up junior!" A hand and voice shook me from my rather decent slumber. I slowly opened my eyes to see Fasha with a stern look on her face kneeling over me, unclothed. I was wide-awake in a big hurry and quickly looking for a place to hide before her boyfriend came calling.

"Works like a charm," she chuckled and put on her body suit and armor. I glared at her as I remembered what all had happened.

"Thanks, now I'll have nightmares of random guys trying to kill me," I muttered.

Fasha blushed, "Why thank you, that has to be the best pick-up I've gotten in at least three zurals! You got anything else besides being a quick sweet-talker?" I grumbled and slid my armor on over my head, wondering why the registration desk had given me full green sleeves instead of half or no sleeve. _Well duh, they probably get burned off or something. Probably happens a lot with ki blasts… oh boy, that reminds me. I need to suppress my power._

"Fasha, did you spend all night telling him about your supposed courting of the rich elites again?" Tora said from the door just as I was getting my power back down to where I remembered it needed to be, "I'm sure he had no problems sleeping!"

"Oh shut up, at least he isn't a noise machine when he sleeps. He's actually quite pleasant to listen to. I'll bet I can look forward to more," Fasha said with her arms folded with a bright grin. _What was that supposed to mean, don't tell me she actually stayed up and just watched me sleep. _

"Did she get you in your sleep kid? She's a tail grabber," Tora chuckled.

I cocked an eyebrow at this, "Was that supposed to mean something? I slept fine."

"Yeah, I'll bet you did," Tora laughed harder.

"Oh shut up, you liked it when you were in here with me. Besides it's the one thing to keep your noisy asses quiet once you start snoring!" Fasha said sternly. I didn't have the foggiest idea what they meant at first, but I did need to use the bathroom pretty bad.

"Where's the facility?"

"Down there, second door," Tora pointed, slightly grinning. I quickly walked down, closing the door pretty fast. When I un-did my jumpsuit pants, I realized exactly what Tora was talking about. _Oh man, no wonder I slept so well on that concrete block. Geez, what next?_ I finished and emerged, my face in full blush. And a hoard of laughter awaited me once I hit the front room, Shugesh and Tora in lead choir.

"You survived the initiation! If you can sleep on that stone bed with Fasha in the same room, you can do about anything!" Shugesh laughed loudly.

"Oh shut up, I barely touched him! Just the first phase," Fasha shouted. Even Bardock managed to smirk a little, but he kept his hard exterior. _Great, it's Goku with Vegeta's attitude, minus the arrogance._

"C'mon you bums, we need to go," he barked orders and opened the door. I grabbed my scouter off the table and strapped it on as they had already done. _I don't see why I need this stupid thing; my ki sense works a hell of a lot better, if I'm paying attention._ My answer came a half step later when I wasn't paying attention and the thing beeped and pointed to the right. There was Clerpe, or whatever her name was. At first I didn't recognize her, but the fact that she took up half the hallway gave her away.

"Low level scum marching to their deaths, try and enjoy hell!" she claimed. _There's one face I didn't want to see today._ Unfortunately my mouth decided it was time to start showing off my wit before thinking about confrontations.

"Oh push off bitch, do us a favor and go hold up a rod during a lightning storm or something!" I could have sworn I heard a cricket or two chirping nearby. I saw her go from cocky to pissed in very little time and was already charging at me. No one around me moved to intercept, so I took the liberty to react. She raced ahead, lining up a punch and pulling it back. She was so slow to my heavily advanced eyes, it was like watching a turtle crawl a mile. When her punch reached my face, I tried to pull my hand up and block just in time. But my speed overshot it and brought it back down to my side, more than likely faster than anyone saw, and her fist made direct contact with my forehead. Since I was more than ready for it, I forgot to act hurt. I scowled at my mistake since her ki level was higher than mine was suppressed. But unluckily for me, I had learned long ago that suppressing your ki doesn't take away from your physical abilities. You just can't power them down like you can power them up, so faking pain might not have done any good. I heard a few bones stiffen and crack in her fist, and I glared at her hard.

"You had best walk away now," I warned, keeping my low energy level stable. I heard a scouter go off behind me, running like they were checking something.

"Strange," Tora whispered. After a gasp festival, Clerpe decided she didn't want any more of me and walked off holding her hand. She looked back for a moment, but a small smirk lit up for just a moment before she scuffed slightly and stomped off.

"Wow, no one has scared her off like that! Even when I threatened to eat her," Shugesh said with a grin.

"She's just a bag of hot air, a big bag," Fasha said, giving me a small wink.

"Well, she shouldn't be bugging the kid much anymore. Let's get going," Bardock barked from down the hall. We followed single file and piled in. When we reached the base floor, we stepped into the middle of a bar fight. It seemed that some of the first class Saiyans and elites didn't agree about something, and were tearing each other up. Some second class warriors and low levels got dragged in as well. Bardock stopped just a few feet out the elevator, just enough for us to slide out and line up behind him. He didn't really respond to the scene ahead of him, but it was pretty clear he wasn't happy about it. Then suddenly he charged a ki blast and fired straight in the middle of the mob. That got everyone's attention and they spread apart from it, before looking up and glaring at us. I'll give Bardock credit, he had a great way to stop a bar fight. Then he started charging a white energy ball that glowed throughout the entire room. I winced slightly at it before my eyes went wide when I realized what it was. Everyone else in the bar seemed to know and backed away slightly.

"You call yourselves soldiers, don't make me laugh. If even one of you moves before we leave, then the entire place is going to be demolished!" Bardock warned as he held his Power Ball. The crowds silenced and kept up a contest of glares and growls as Bardock walked through them. Tora realized what was happening and walked through as well, and the rest of us lined up behind him, I got to bring up the rear. Lots of whispers went by my ears, mostly insulting.

"Low class trash!

"Runt!"

"I hope you die and rot in hell!"

Once out, Bardock extinguished his Power Ball and we kept following. He lifted into the air and flew off a short distance away. Following, we came up to what looked like a large command center, probably the one he had mentioned. There were Saiyan space pods lined up all over the place, some lifted off when we landed, giving me a good look at their take off speed.

"Wait here," Bardock said, going inside for a minute.

"So kid, this is your first actual mission isn't it? You nervous?" Shugesh asked.

"A little," I said, when in reality I wasn't looking forward to this at all.

"I was my first trip too. Hey Tora, is there a moon on Treme?"

"Yeah but it's cycle is about every ten Zurals and we're hitting right in the middle of it. Looks like we'll have to get our hands dirty the old fashioned way. If it gets ugly we can always make use of the trump card," Tora said. _Oh thank you Dende! Wait a sec, you're not here. _

Bardock came back a few moments later, "Launch pad nine." We followed to a deck with five space pods on it. Bardock motioned for me and Fasha to climb into one in particular while the others got in their respective pods.

"Since this is your first trip. I'll warn you ahead of time, the effects of stasis sleep are a little, unsettling to some, but you'll adjust. Just remember not to chew off Fasha's ear when you wake up!" he smirked slightly and hit the pod on the top, making the door shut.

"Okay kid, sitting side by side isn't going to work, and I'm not spending a week on my left side. So you're on the bottom and I'm on the top!" Fasha rasped slightly, hitting my stomach to get me to sit down. The pod shook slightly and lifted into the air, before zooming off with frightening speed. Fasha climbed onto my lap, facing the window at first, blocking my view of it. I figured this would be a good time for a question or two, especially since I was supposed to be the silent one.

"Did you do what I think you did last night?" I asked.

She looked almost startled, "Wow, he speaks! I guess I did cheer you up a little after all!"

I smirked slightly, "I'm finding out the hard way what a pain in the ass that tail is."

"Well then, we have about five minutes before Stasis kicks in. What do ya say we give it a trade off. Let me tell you, Stasis is like repeating the same dream for a long time, only it tends to be whatever happened right before it. You do me and I'll do you!" she smiled brightly.

"What?" I asked.

"You rub my tail and I'll rub yours, that way at least we can dream about something worthwhile while in cold sleep," she suggested with a bright grin.

"You're kidding right?"

"Man you're bashful, I'm not trying to mate with you. Besides, it's okay for those who are not mates with others yet. Fine I'll start, but you better jump in before the gas jets come on! If you hear a growl, just stop there and know you did good!" she said, unraveling my tail from its waist spot and turning around to where she was facing me, stomach to stomach. _Great, amazing, one minute I'm at home guarding against an invading race, and the next I'm sent out on a Saiyan mission to kill a bunch of people. A job I'd feel better preventing then doing, and on top all that or me in this case there's her. Granted she's damn good looking, but I was trying to prevent physical contact._

"Come on junior, otherwise I'm gonna open the door and throw you out!" Fasha warned. I sighed and dared to make contact with her swishing tail. I did my best to be gentle, but I needn't worry. The moaning told me I was just fine.

**Interlude 12.1 –Vegeta's Concerns-**

"Hey dad, when does Verto go on a mission?" Trunks asked, in-between bites of food.

"He left about an hour ago son, going to planet Treme will take about a week one-way. Hopefully he keeps himself under control and doesn't blow his cover," he said.

"Verto's the best at holding his power, didn't you teach him really well? He can sneak up on me and Goten when were trying to get food from the kitchen. He can blend in with the air, surely he can blend in with some Saiyans!"

"That's not exactly what I meant son. Since you brats botched up and made him older, he's almost reached prime mating age, and a lot of females will notice that he is unmarked. Even though were planning to make him young again in awhile, if he gets mated while in this predicament, well that would be bad later on. A mating bond could destroy him if we made him young again," Vegeta explained.

"What do you mean by that dad?"

Vegeta sighed, "Nothing, I'll tell you when you're older." With that said, Trunks went back to devouring food, as did Vegeta. _What luck that I timed it well enough that he ended up with Kakarot's father, and if I remember correctly, him and his crew were put to death on planet Meat shortly before Frieza blew up the planet. Treme wasn't very long before that, so be careful kid. Frieza will no doubt have your eye on you. Hopefully he will start leaving his more pacifistic ways behind before we get home, I need that boy as ruthless as it gets before the Zerg arrive. If I can get him battle hardened before then, we may be able to end the invasion as it begins. And perhaps we could even bring some Saiyans back with us. It wouldn't hurt to have some more man power against the Zerg if their numbers turn out to be too great, we shall see. _ Vegeta returned to devouring food that Bulma had packed away in capsules, giving him some time before he would have to worry about it.

**Interlude 12.2 –Location of Friends-**

"Hey Bulma, could your computer core recall what code Trunks punched in there, it wasn't part of the panel that Vegeta blew up was it?" Gohan asked from inside the time chamber. The machine had blown up when Vegeta blasted the controls, but the basic parts were still intact, it just wouldn't work until it was fixed.

"Yeah it should be able to," Bulma said from the other side. It had been about two weeks since the event. Gohan, Chichi and Goku had temporarily moved in with her to help her cope, and to help with finding Vegeta and the boys. Goku had already gone to Namek once, but the Namek dragonballs wouldn't be recharged for four months. Apparently Porunga was pretty tired after the three wishes that Dende had made, and it wouldn't do any good to wait that long, as the Earth balls would be back by then.

"I got it out Bulma, let's plug it in!" Gohan said, dragging over a small memory core to Bulma's main super computer. He plugged it in as Bulma started up Trunks' old time machine for codes to determine where they had gone. The computer stopped with a match almost instantly, and Bulma couldn't believe her eyes.

"What is it Bulma?"

"According to this, Trunks punched in the exact code for about forty years ago in this dimension!"

"Really? Wow! Well that works out doesn't it? They just need to use that dragon radar you packed and get Shenron to bring them back here, no problem!"

"Yeah it is a problem Gohan, they aren't on Earth," she said solemnly.

"Where are they then?"

"A planet that used to exist before it was destroyed, and it was destroyed almost forty years ago according to Vegeta," she looked serious.

"What planet is that?"

"Planet Vegita, the Saiyan home world."

Gohan's eyes went wide, "Oh no, how long do they have before Frieza blows it up?"

"I don't know Gohan, but Vegeta always gets very distant about the same time every year that crosses the anniversary of the explosion. That is a few months off, surely Vegeta knows that, so he will do what he can to get off and not draw attention. But you know him Gohan, he's wanted the Saiyan race back for so long you never know what he'll do when he has a chance for it!"

"I don't think Vegeta will do something to screw it all up. Besides, it'll just create a new timeline won't it?" Gohan asked.

"Theoretically yes, but that's just a guess anyway. If he can get off the planet then he can get to earth or Namek and use the balls. But if Frieza's goons were to say, shoot him out of space, then where will we be?"

"Good point, I guess we should work on rebuilding this first then?" Gohan asked.

"Yeah, but we can start on that tomorrow. You have a date to get to with Videl don't you? Funny that both of your birthdays are next week, Go get em kid!" Bulma grinned slightly. Gohan didn't have quite the joyful reaction, but he waved and dashed out. Bulma continued at her computer, determination could drive her without sleep for a few days to get the time machine started.

"Vegeta, Trunks, Verto, I hope you keep safe and come back to me."

-

A loud beeping noise pulled me from a very deep sleep. The dream I had was repeating just like Fasha said, and just like she said, it was the last thing we did before the gas knocked us out. As pleasant and pleasurable as it was, I wasn't sure I wanted to repeat it. She still hung in suspended animation, her arms draped around my neck, her tail and mine intertwined. _I hope my jumpsuit is dry. _The beeping continued, and a red button flashed on my side. I pressed it, and a groggy voice came on over an intercom.

"Hey Fasha, wake up! You to kid! We will be arriving in about ten minutes, Tora out."

"Oh, there already. I was just getting used to this position," Fasha grumbled as she slowly looked up, her head had been resting against my shoulder. I managed to rub a little sleep from my eye before she promptly slapped my face. I stared at her grin, though she had managed to rouse me a little better.

"Well, good morning sleepy tail," she giggled. I felt like I had just come out of surgery, barely with it at all. She must have noticed, cause she gave me a playful peck on the side of my cheek, bringing me to my senses in a big hurry.

"There you are, I thought I was sleeping with a zombie for a minute there! By the way, thanks for the good dream! You did good!" she said. I blushed some as I recalled it pretty well.

Fasha laughed some more, "Oh don't sweat it, partners do that all the time, since it's technically not mating. And you're not even nine Zurals yet, it wouldn't be possible. Well half of it would be, which is the fun part. It's okay, even the guys do it when they're forced to pair off." That made me pale and wish my stomach wasn't growling.

"Just kidding, geez!" Fasha grinned. She turned on her seat, namely me, and slowly she untangled our tails. I wrapped mine back up the instant it was free, causing her to chuckle a bit more. A big brown planet filled up the window all of a sudden.

"There she is, planet Treme, we'll be landing in the government controlled area," Fasha pointed out as we began our descent.

**-**

Saiyan pod landings weren't too bad, until you touched down. I found that traveling at sub-light speed gets a little disturbing when you come to a very sudden stop. The ship absorbed most of the jolt, but I still felt a piece of it even as Fasha opened the door.

"C'mon you lug," she smirked some more as she jumped out into the crater the pod left behind. I rose, feeling a bit cramped up from sitting so long, and exited the pod. A large group of brown looking aliens with darker brown faces and wearing blue robes awaited us above the craters. Bardock and Tora were already out talking with them. I almost approached to listen to our mission details, but I decided otherwise. It was pretty obvious what we were supposed to do. I glanced around at some of the aliens that surrounded us. Most of them were dressed in barely rags of blue, like commoners. They resembled humans to an extent, though their noses were oddly shaped and stuck out a bit. The people Bardock was speaking to were dressed better, but not much. The area looked like it had been hit with a massive attack despite the pod landings and the people were scared. The captain finished his discussing and lifted into the air.

"Let's go you bums, we have a rebellion to put down!" Bardock ordered. We lifted off and followed behind Tora, who followed behind Bardock.

When we first came up to the war zone, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. What I saw didn't surprise me though, and it almost felt better considering what we were about to do. The government troops were dressed in blue, the rebels in red. Laser fire was spraying everywhere on the ground, some were ki blasts, not a lot though. My scouter had downloaded information on the war here and had begun informing me of information on it. The Treme rebels for the most part made me sick. The rebels that would capture the troops would torture and punish them, whereas the troops that captured rebels would simply lock them away and keep them alive. According to the information, the war had been started when the government shifted to democratic rule rather than dictatorship. That didn't make much sense to me, _why would you fight to be back under that?_

When we arrived, the last major government fort was under attack and was starting to lose. These people used conventional weapons, except for the occasional hand blaster that charged a soldier's ki for him, so most of it was a laser firefight. The scouter told me that these rebels had hijacked a few of Frieza's supply ships and they had taken the blasters, telling me Frieza's angle in all of this. A beeping went off in my scouter, and I reached up and pressed the button.

"Here's the plan, Tora and I will fly ahead and take out the main rebel forces heading this way. Shugesh and Borgos will take out the rebels in the surrounding area. Fasha, and the kid will re-establish control of the base. Remember, the ones in red are you targets, go forth and bring swift death to the enemies of the Saiyans!" Bardock's words rang loud and clear as he and Tora blasted off into the distance. Shugesh and Borgos took off as well, in a different direction.

"Well kid, it's you and me again. Let's first take out the initial attacking force over there. Then we can regain control of the base easier that way!" she said, swooping past the fort into the main mesh of troops. I followed, turning off the extremely annoying beeping of my scouter and charging ki into my hands, ready to fire. I moved away from Fasha towards one of the larger groups of rebels dressed in red.

"Hey kid, watch it! You're not a legendary Super Saiyan!" Fasha yelled behind me.

"Just handle that group over there, I got this!" I shouted back, heading toward my targets. I let loose multiple low power ki blasts over the rebels, who hadn't noticed me yet. They did in a big hurry after their little group was cut by a two thirds of it original size. The laser fire shifted upwards, and I had to focus on dodging the beams. A couple lucky ones got in since I was trying to keep my ki suppressed and therefore couldn't fly as fast, but they had nil effect.

"Destructive Wave!" I shouted, shooting a bigger blast down on a large group, wiping them out. Bodies started to scatter as my beam went through.

"Saiyan!" someone shouted. The rebels started giving off fear in their ki feeling. I flipped down to the ground and charged forward on foot, punching and kicking everything that was in my path.

**Interlude 12.3 –Beyond Normal Ability-**

Fasha couldn't believe her eyes at first. This kid with a power level not even with three fourths of her own was beating down the rebels like he was transformed. While they were physically able to beat down these rebels one on one like this, their weapons could do some damage. She blasted a few more rebels that had come her way, but most of them had either run away in fear, or had joined the battle against the kid. Her free hand went up to her scouter to track the boy's level. _There's no way he can be at twenty-two and be doing that!_ Her scouter fluctuated a little bit as it tried to focus on Verto's power. Every time the boy killed a warrior, it dropped, every time he was about to kill one, it rose. That wasn't what surprised Fasha. It was the fact that it changed between twelve hundred and fifty-eight rapidly, pending the situation. The boy sure did his job well, cutting through the rebels like a hot knife through butter, mostly using physical combat, as the Treme people were pretty fragile. But even his physical strength was something she found amazing. Verto's blows were very precise and on target with quickness like she had never seen. Even with her Saiyan eyes she could barely track single punches and kicks, they were just way too fast. Soon the last of the rebels were running away, before he blasted them from behind. _Hmmm, maybe he can control his ki a little better than we realized, I better keep this to myself. _

_-_

I glanced behind me to see Fasha fiddling with her scouter, so I quickly dropped my power level. During the battle, my more savage instincts showed up and made me slip a little bit on the power control. To me it hadn't been much of a shift, but to them it could have been a shift of a thousand or more_._ I blasted the last warrior that was running for his life, turning him into smoke. Fasha was still messing with her scouter as I flew up to her.

"So, did you want me to negotiate with the government as well? You didn't do much other than sit there and fiddle with that thing," I chuckled.

"Oh shut up. Had you been careful like you should, you would have checked your scouter for weapons designs. Maybe then you wouldn"t have gotten so bloody!" she yelled, but it almost sounded like she cared. I laughed a little, looking at my red soaked armor, and body at this point.

"I think that's mostly theirs actually. I didn't get hit, or at least I don't think so," I said as I checked myself over, something difficult when covered in the blood of your enemies.

"Kids, I swear. Look, just be more careful next time you brat. Bardock isn't going to like it if his new fish on the team gets killed because of foolish decisions. Those weapons could have fried you with a few hits you know!"

"Wow Fasha, you care after all. Was I really the first one in a long time to give a good time," I smirked at her.

"Ugh, let's just get this area under wraps. You need a fuckin bath worse than any Saiyan I have ever seen! And I am not riding back next to your smelly carcass!" she claimed. Her power signal didn't reveal disgust though. It revealed something like relief crossed with lust. I shrugged and brushed off my sleeves, re-soaking my already red hands. I probably could have powered up some to remove some of the blood, only problem being the powering up part. That would equal either discovery, or at the very least suspicion. Fasha flew back towards the fort and I followed behind. _Well, if all the missions are to take out the bad guys, I suppose this couldn't be too bad. My luck never holds out though._

-

After a few hours, Bardock and the others came back. Their armor a little bit roughed up, not to mention a few cuts or scrapes here and there. Unlike me, they didn't have quite as much of the enemies' blood on their hands. I couldn't help it though, while holding my power down decreased my ki usage, my physical presence was just as high as ever, and the Tremens were very fragile. It barely took a tap from me to take them out, or at least take off an arm or a leg. Almost like fighting a bunch of very weak Buus, without the regeneration of course. Fasha had me stand guard outside just in case the rebels came back, whatever was left of them. She had gone inside to discuss things with the regional commander, who was busy staring at me with his jaw hanging. Shugesh and Borgos came back first, wiping a little blood from their arms and armor.

"Well well, the kid lived after all, looks like he got pretty diced up though. Might wanna visit the recovery tank when we're done kid!" Shugesh suggested.

I smirked slightly as him, "Whoever said this was all mine?"

This caused Shugesh to laugh rather hard, "That's the spirit kid!" he slapped me on the back. I noticed he was holding his bruised hand a lot after that. Borgos just looked around and pulled out some food he had stuffed into his armor, eating it. Fasha came out of the fort a few minutes later, carrying a raggy towel. She tossed it to me, and I started to wipe some of the blood off. Tora and Bardock's ki signals showed up in my senses, and they landed shortly after.

"Kid got roughed up a little bit Fasha. Did you send him to take out the troops on his own while you kicked back?" Tora chuckled. Fasha glared at him slightly, but said nothing. "That's okay kid, they got a recovery tank here if you're tired!" Tora put a hand on my blood soaked shoulder pad.

"It's fine, they had lousy aim," I laughed and grinned.

"You look a little like Bardock when you do that kid," Tora laughed, while Bardock grunted. I wiped the rest of the blood from my hair first, then my sleeves and armor. By the time I got to my legs and tail, the rag was dripping red.

Another towel hit my shoulder prompting me to speak, "Thanks Fasha." I cleaned up the rest as best I could, before wondering what exactly we were waiting to do next. Bardock had gone inside to speak with the commander.

"Why's your scouter turned off kid?" Tora suddenly piped up.

"Oh, didn't realize it was off I guess. I was a bit busy," I lied quickly.

"No, I saw you turn it off right before you engaged the rebels! What were you thinking? If you don't know what's coming at you, you won't be prepared and most likely will get killed!" Fasha's voice rose up as she scolded me.

"Sorry, the beeping was a bit annoying. I woulda been okay. I'm still here aren't I?" I reasoned.

"Don't pay attention to Fasha, she gets attached to new kids pretty quickly, and over time gets a bit protective like a mate would," Tora said.

"I do not! I just don't want to see a failed mission when the new blood gets cocky and thinks he can take on the world by himself. Then he may get killed and Bardock will come down on me for it!" Fasha shouted with a red face.

"Typical woman," Tora muttered with a shake of the head. _And here I thought Saiyans were mostly heartless, but she acts like Videl, with Saiyan blood that is. _ I wiped the rest of the Treme blood off the best I could, while everyone waited for Bardock to show again. He did a few minutes later, stepping from the fort with a grim look on his face.

"What is it Bardock?"

"Guys, we need to go to the rebel capitol. Seems they have a powerful ion cannon stationed there. One that is able to take out about everything within a twenty-mile radius of its target point, and it is very accurate to within a meter. Seems they have activated it and are currently charging it up to fire on the government's remaining cities. Our mission is to take out the cannon before it fires. Once that is done, we take out the capitol's forces, which are a bit depleted now, but still a good three thousand strong. Let's move out!" Bardock shouted the last part as he charged his aura around him for flight. I followed suit, noticing everyone else's aura was blue and white, while mine was a silvery and clear because of my mystic power up. No one really said anything to the issue though, and we blasted off in pursuit of Bardock.

**Power Levels: **

**Verto (suppressed): 2200, fluctuates between 1200-5800 during battle.**

**Clerpe: 2800**

**Fasha: 3000**

**Shugesh: 4400**

**Borgos: 4200**

**Tora: 5500**

**Bardock: 7000**

**Treme rebels: all below 300, weapons capable of 3500**

**A/n: Like I mentioned a few times, just because Verto is keeping his level WAY down compared to normal, it does not take much away from his physical nature. **


	14. Keeping a Secret

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 13: Keeping a Secret**

I trailed behind the group, as I was supposed to look like the runt of the litter so to speak. We had been flying about twenty minutes, about a fourth of the way around the planet by my guess, seemed a little smaller than Earth. I could have cleared that distance in a minute or two at full power, but for obvious reasons I didn't. Hell, it wasn't easy fighting while holding back my power so much. It was even harder keeping it from my teammates as I could already see the suspicious looks, mostly from Fasha. Tora and Shugesh seemed to accept the fact that I had torn apart that group of rebels so easily, but then they weren't around to see the fight. Borgos just grunted and ate, and Bardock's focused, grim look never really changed. We raced through mountains and across wide lakes and small oceans to get to the destination, one that was highlighted on my scouter now that I actually turned it on. Fasha kept giving me the suspicion glance though, I suppose because of my silvery aura. That and I had a nagging feeling that she did more than just fiddle with her scouter when I was battling the rebels.

We came up on a large city, but most of it seemed to be run down. On top of a hill stood a large fortress, with a big cannon sticking out of the ground about a mile away from the actual base.

"That's it guys! Let's concentrate our attacks on the mountain, I don't think we'll be able to get in and easily disarm it. The Treme language is pretty complex," Bardock ordered, powering up a hand blast. He fired it right away, watching it streak towards the cannon's mountain base. It exploded quite short of the target, what looks to be some kind of bubble highlighted itself for a moment.

"A shield generator!" Tora pointed out a small few antennae poking out from the ground, just around where the shield probably was. _Heh, if only I could use a little more power, that shield wouldn't have a prayer._

"Damn, we need to get in there!" Bardock shouted, "Tora, you take Shugesh and Borgos and start taking out the capitol! Fasha, you're with me! I'm gonna need your hacking skills! Hey kid, stay out here and watch the perimeter! Most of the troops are in the city so you shouldn't have a problem!" he barked his orders and took off towards the complex that was stationed behind the cannon's shield.

I stared at them as they departed, feeling kind of left out. _Shouldn't have a problem? There's nothing here! _I settled for tracking their ki signals and listened to the scouter audio. Tora and the other guys were tearing up the capitol, pretty heavily judging by some of the explosions I was hearing. Bardock and Fasha were fighting off a little resistance, but were inside the control center. I looked at the cannon from the air, wondering why someone would make such a terrible thing. I didn't have much time to think about it before something red started to light up inside the cannon.

My scouter started going nuts, "Imminent fire detected, suggest clearing the area!" Then it darted over towards where the thing was aimed, several continents away.

"Firing target sighted, destruction of main government city assured. Suggest evacuation, one minute until firing sequence complete!" _Oh no, if that thing fires, it'll wipe out not only the government's city, but also the innocent civilians living there, and there is a lot of them. I've got to stop it! But how am I going to without showing some of my power? Damn, then I'll be discovered and me and Vegeta may not ever get home to stop the Zerg! Damn, what do I do? Maybe they died before though and it would be letting history fulfill itself. _

"Firing sequence in fifteen seconds!" The mental pictures of pros and cons to acting and not acting started to flash through my head, until I could barely take it anymore. _Fuck it, it's the right thing to do_, I decided being discovered wouldn't be as bad as having the deaths of millions of innocents on my hands because I didn't take the chance to act.

"Firing in five, four, three,.." I shut off the annoying scouter and released some of my suppressed power, causing the lands to shake and everything standing on the ground to get blown away in the dust. The red beam came flying out of the cannon, and I stood in its path. The mountain started to crumble directly beneath the cannon, it apparently didn't get much use. I powered up with what I could in the amount of time I had, and knocked the beam upwards at an odd angle. It sailed up, following it's own path, but then it started coming down, almost straight down. I flew under it and bashed the end of it towards the close distance. The force of the beam hurt my hand a little bit as I hadn't even powered up to ten percent of my full power. The fact that it was synthetic energy didn't help either. The beam continued, hitting a piece of land that was deserted as we flew over it, creating a huge explosion that came my way very quickly, and I extended my ki outward with my arms and legs to block the destruction. It worked, but it hurt a lot since I didn't have time to put a safe amount of power behind my shielding.

The beam discontinued after a few moments, and the cannon shut down, pointed upwards a little more now. The mountain it sat on couldn't handle the power output very well and had broken apart in some places. As for me, I was feeling a little sore, the beam was strong enough to shred my armor and tore up my jumpsuit. Some of my own warm blood trickled down my cheek, and I quickly noticed that this time I was beginning to soak in my own redness as I winced a bit at a large gash across my head. I sighed and dropped my power level again, back to what felt like twenty-two hundred. I cursed slightly because I had left the Senzu beans back at the apartment. _Then again, if I turned up injured that might add to relevancy. _

**-**

More of the capitol buildings exploded, and the fighting ceased shortly afterwards as I sensed the crew start to come back my way. I sat down on a rock on a cliff a little below from where we first split up, overlooking the destruction the beam created. I had to give the rebels a little credit, that beam did its job; luckily I showed up and sidetracked it a bit. The crew was within sight range, and I could hear shouting.

"Kid where are you?"

"You better not be dead!"

I stood back up, firing a small and weak blast to show my position, as my scouter had been destroyed during the attempted shielding. Fasha and Bardock showed up first, and gasped slightly when they saw me. I suppose I was a little tore up, I was actually bleeding in many spots. Even my tail was bleeding a little bit, but I had been put through worse.

"You okay kid?" Bardock asked, slightly surprised.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I said softly, groaning a little bit. I didn't have to try to fake it, not that I could act hurt anyway, it was rather obvious.

"Do you know how lucky you are that that blast didn't vaporize you. Float any closer to it and you would have been ripped apart!" Fasha screeched, shaking my shoulders a little bit.

"Let him be Fasha, we're all lucky that the cannon misfired. Whoever made that thing didn't put it on stable enough ground. That must be why the cannon suddenly shot upwards during the firing, I thought for sure it was going to hit the Tremens' capitol and take it out," Bardock said, sighing at the blast impact.

"Looks like the kid tried to counter blast it. Though it probably didn't do much to protect him, it might have saved his ass," Fasha grinned, giving my rear a slight slap with her hand.

"Rebel scumbags. I heard they captured even the commoners and forces their own people into slavery along with old government officials and troops. That and they killed off all trade with Frieza's empire. Supposedly they would take the shipments for themselves and then kill all of Frieza's officers with bombs instead of fighting them head on, the cowards. Lucky for them that Frieza didn't step in sooner," Bardock spat at the ground. A single energy shot rang out, and a tiny blast hit the ground in front of us. I looked up to see a Treme rebel, holding a fancy looking rifle.

"You monkeys should not have interfered with this! Now you are going to pay, and soon shall the government. I'm sure you know what this thing is and what it can do, so I suggest you call off your men before I kill you!" the rebel snarled, pointing the rifle at us, mostly Bardock and Fasha.

"That's the new prototype energy rifle! Capable of taking out even a Frieza elite, what the hell are you doing with it?" Bardock demanded. Instead the rebel fired, and struck him through his armor, right side of his chest. Bardock collapsed, his ki fell rapidly, but he was still alive. Fasha screamed and knelt down to him.

"Now girl, call off your men, or I'll finish the job!" the rebel ordered with a bright smirk. I didn't even think about it and stepped into the path of the rifle, the Saiyan in me cried out for justice. This also put a stop to any sort of suppression, and my energy surged a bit in anger.

"No kid, d-d-don't!" Bardock whispered, still awake, but falling fast.

"I suggest you step aside monkey boy. Unlike your friend, you are not going to survive one hit from this!"

"No shithead, you're the one who's going to die!" I yelled at him, stepping straight forward in a confident walk. I walked calmly towards the rebel, who wasted no time in squeezing the trigger. The tiny blast hit me dead on above my heart, no effect. I wished I had a camera to capture the look of shock on the rebel's face. He pulled the trigger again, and got the same reaction.

"Your weapons can't hurt me, see you in hell!" I shouted, letting loose much more of a ki blast than I needed to. Nonetheless, the rebel and his weapon were nothing but dust afterwards. I grunted slightly and walked back to Bardock, who had passed out now. Fasha was looking at me in fear. I smiled slightly and put a finger to my lips, shaking my head, and hoping I could trust her to be quiet. I had just saved her ass, so I could only hope she could honor my request in return. She gulped and nodded, turning on her scouter. I dropped my power quickly, back to lower than it had been, after all I was hurt. When she initially turned it on, it was a seven-digit number. Tora and the rest showed up a few minutes later, wondering what happened.

"A rebel showed up with a new style rifle that packed a serious punch. He shot Bardock, but the kid blasted him before he could react," Fasha said before I even tried to explain.

"Looks like the kid got a little roughed up, musta been that big ass blast I seen. Don't worry kid, happens to the best of us. A quick trip to a recovery tank will fix ya right up!" Shugesh slapped my back a little harder than I wanted it touched at the time, again I saw him hold his hand slightly in pain. _Serves him right for hitting me._

"Let's contact the Treme Government and get Bardock and the kid to a recovery chamber," Tora ordered, turning on his scouted. It beeped and flashed at him for a few seconds, before he scooped Bardock up over his shoulder and lifted off.

**-**

I had to admit, I was a bit nervous when they told me the liquid was synthetic Saiyan DNA to make me better. After all, I wasn't exactly like other Saiyans. Sure the basics were down, and the deepest powers were the same, it was the transformation gene though that struck me apart, and now that couldn't even happen. But I recalled that Old Kai had been messing with my DNA a little bit, he might have fixed this. After all he saw that I would come to him for training in the first place, for all I knew he could see this too. That and Goku had gone through this before his fight with Frieza, being without the transformation gene was probably like missing the tail I suppose. The doctors had me strip down to nothing and climb in the tank, something I refused any help on. Bardock was placed in the other tank, oxygen masks were placed on both of us. The doctors told me I would probably fall asleep during the process until the healing was over. For some strange reason, I didn't, even as the fluid around me soothed my body and it begged to sleep. So I stayed awake, allowing my eyes to dart around to the random presences in the room, and also to keep an eye on my suppression. It could have been bad if I were to fall asleep under a monitor.

Most of them were Treme doctors, occasionally monitoring the computer in front of me, along with Bardock's. The crew stopped in a time or two, mainly Fasha and Tora, I heard them say that Shugesh and Borgos went out to party and feast. About three hours after being put in the chamber, I heard a distant beeping sound. It turned out to be Bardock's tank, signaling that it was done. The doctors brought in his torn clothes, seeing as they didn't have any other clothing available that would fit us. _That's odd, why am I taking longer? Must be an old style or something. _Bardock glanced over at the tank and grinned slightly, he picked up what looked to be a microphone.

"Don't worry kid, you'll be outta there and partying soon. Hell, maybe Fasha will let you sleep with her again after your cleaned up!" he said. Fasha, who happened to be in the room at the time, punched him across the cheek, getting a grin in return from Bardock. After that everyone left, the doctor's mentioned that it would take a few more hours for me since I was supposedly weaker, but he wasn't sure since Bardock's injury was worse. I figured it out quickly, but couldn't voice my opinion. _Since I'm suppressing my energy so much, it can't help out in healing me faster, guess I better keep playing along. I'll probably get a decent strength boost out of it as well. _So I repositioned myself and began to meditate, concentrating my powers to a more suppressed level. So far it had been working, but I had been slipping up. A few times during this, I slipped a bit and some ki lightning went around the tank, but no one was there to notice.

**Interlude 13.1 –Suspicion-**

"Man, they sure do have good food here**,** despite this place being such a dump after their wars with the rebels!" Shugesh declared, shoving more into his mouth.

"Any food to you is good. I don't know how you and Borgos can tell, you shove it down your throat so fast!" Tora snorted, "What's our next mission here Bardock?"

"Well, the rebels have been mostly wiped out. There's only a few pockets of resistance left, and the Tremens said they could handle it. My orders were to remain here until tomorrow; Frieza and Prince Vegeta are coming in the morning. I guess they wanted to meet with us or something, maybe a little recognition for once," Bardock muttered. Fasha, who had kept very quiet during dinner, took this chance to speak up.

"Hey guys, don't you find it strange that Verto managed to wipe out those rebels and come out unscathed?" she started. She had mentally promised Verto that she wouldn"t say anything about the incident with the rifleman, but she was still curious, she had mainly done that in fear.

"Maybe the kid is just more Saiyan than you gave him credit for Fasha. You must have worked that bashful behavior in one night," Tora chuckled.

"Well, it was a little strange. But it's the incident with the rifleman who shot me that gets my attention. Before I passed out, I saw him block that rebel's path of fire. There had to be a full nine and a half seconds for the rebel to figure out where to put the hole in his head, and that was before I passed out. Did the guy fire Fasha?" Fasha was a bit taken aback by the question from Bardock, and at first unsure what to do. But that smile on Verto's face told her not to rat on him. Something about that boy was special, and if he had secrets then he had them for a reason, and she would respect it for now.

"No, no he didn't do anything besides shout threats. The kid took the advantage of it and got him when he dropped his guard," she said softly.

"You see Bardock, another cocky warrior that thought he could best a Saiyan was proven wrong. It certainly isn't the first time you've gotten beat up and we had to bail you out!" Tora laughed. Bardock glared at him sharply, but kept quiet.

"Well guys, I'm gonna turn in," Fasha said, getting up from the table and walking away as fast as she could.

-

About two hours later, Verto was released from the healing tank. Instead of eating though, he went straight to bed, again having to share a bunk with Fasha. She didn't mind, having the kid around wasn't too much of a pain, and he appeared to be a pleasant person if and when he ever opened up. She lay back to back with Verto, but remained awake, nagging feelings about this began to get to her. She had taken a quick peek at her scouter shortly after he emerged, his level at a flat twenty-seven hundred. It was quite a jump, but it didn't really surprise her. She herself had once jumped seven hundred points coming back from a nasty mission. But she thought it as strange that his level stayed so, low. Granted she didn't think much of the kid's power at the time, but she had seen what he could do, and ability like that with only a level of twenty-two just didn't fit. _Even elites don't fight as clean like that kid does_. The kid's blows were so precise, and the accuracy of them could only come from one of two things: Personal training from Frieza, or decades of experience. She highly doubted the first one; the kid seemed to scowl a lot whenever Frieza's name came up. She reasoned that he couldn't have been trained by him anyway, he didn't act like it. The second couldn't have been possible though, even Bardock didn't fight like that, and he was easily in the top ten as regards to fighting ability among the Saiyans. Only the King himself could probably match Bardock's ability, if the two ever faced off that is. This kid made them look like rookies, and that was saying something.

She got out of bed, and retrieved her scouter, something told her that she needed to see the kid's level when he wasn't awake. She turned it on, and the number on it fluctuated a little bit, in the upward direction. That wouldn't have made her jump, the fact that it was a seven-digit number did. It read over one point five million and rose to two million pretty quickly before hovering around there. The scouter blew up a moment later. The explosion noise was minimal and didn't wake anyone in the room. She gasped slightly, trying to calm down. _How the hell can his power be higher when he's asleep? And how the hell can it be that fucking high!_ She pondered this one while laying back down next to him, shaking a little bit in fear.

_That explains why his power shifted so much, he knows how to control his ki enough to mask his power even from a scouter. That's why that bitch Clerpe didn't do anything except break her own hand, and she had a power level higher than he did at the time! Just how strong is this kid, man what am I doing here? We should be packing up and getting the fuck outta here! That kid could blow us all to dust with a breath._ She trembled some more in bed as she thought about this, not wanting to sleep. Verto shifted in bed, turning over and pulling his arm around her in a protective hug, scaring Fasha shitless until she remembered the kid was asleep. She lay stiff as a board then, not wanting to wake the kid and have him realize she knew about his power. _He'd probably crush my head with a flick of his finger_. _Man, what if this kid goes off the handle when he meets Frieza, then what? He'll kill the kid and all of us for sure, damn we're screwed either way!_ She eventually released her fear and went to sleep, but stayed ready just in case Verto woke up.

-

I woke up in the cushioned beds that had been provided for us. They only expected five Saiyans, so I had to sleep with Fasha again, not that I minded. We started out back to back, but somehow my arm ended up around her stomach. I blushed slightly and removed it, noticing she felt really stiff, like she was nervous. I quickly checked my ki level, noticing it was rather high because the bed slept so well. It had made me comfortable, therefore I lost a grip on my ki level during sleep. I quickly lowered it, hoping no one picked up on it, they'd probably faint. The room was empty, it looked like the guys had already gotten up and I currently sensed them on the other side of a wall. I yawned and stretched, putting on what remained of my bodysuit top. The sleeves were blown off during the blast, and the rest was just torn in a few places, so it still had a muscle shirt look to it. The armor plate however had been cracked enough that the Treme staff didn't bother giving it back. I sat on the edge of the bed, picking up my discarded boots and putting them on. I sighed, today was going to be a tough day of control. Bardock told me last night that Frieza and Prince Vegeta were coming out to meet us. The Treme government was supposedly throwing a banquet for Frieza's prompt action to send us there. I didn't know how I was going to be able to control myself with Frieza around, the mere mention of his name set a fire in my blood. _Well maybe if I just have to meet him for a minute and then leave it won't be so bad. Anything more than a word or two and I may not be able to control myself._

I sighed again, stretching out my ki sense to see if the purple-headed freak was there yet. He wasn't, but my senses did come up on an extremely fearful feeling ki, and it was sitting right next to me, completely awake.

"Fasha?" I asked, a startled woman's body stiffened when I spoke, she almost sounded like she was crying in fear.

"You ok Fasha?" I asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"K-k-kid, I mean Verto. Sorry, I meant to call you by your name," she stuttered.

"That's ok, what's got you so jittery?"

"If I told you, would you kill me?" she asked. My eyes narrowed in a flash, and I figured that she might have seen or sensed something.

"No," I remarked, removing my hand and looking down at the ground. She got up and stared at me. I had already gotten used to the fact that she slept without much in the way of clothes on, but it still caused me to blush a bit. That and if she was fearful of me, it probably gave her a degraded feeling.

"Since no one is in here, how the hell can you be so strong?" she whispered. _So that's what it is, seems I didn't do that good of a job covering that up, must have been the damn bed._ I could tell she wanted to scream, but that would more than likely get everyone else's attention.

"So when did you figure that out?" I asked.

"During the battle yesterday. Sorry kid but those fighting skills are just too polished to be a low level," she whispered.

"Well, I was kind of hoping to keep that a secret a little longer. Who else knows?" I grumbled.

Fasha sighed slightly, "Bardock is suspicious of it, but hasn't said anything. I pulled out a scouter last night while you were sleeping, and it read two million before it blew up! What the hell are you?" I scowled, _When it rains it pours._

I grinned, "A Saiyan." She slapped me across the face sharply. I saw it coming and moved my head enough so she wouldn't break her hand on impact, leaving just a red mark on both my cheek and her hand.

"Bullshit! And don't tell me you couldn't have dodged that!"

I sighed, "Do you really want the truth? As long as you don't tell anyone, I'll tell you," I said calmly.

"Maybe," she snorted. I sighed again, that would have to do.

"Fine, I'm a Saiyan from the future. Me and a few others got sent back in time during a lab accident. We're going to find a way home, but we have to blend in until then," I quickly said.

She didn't seem to buy all of that, "Continue, what about your freakish strength?" I frowned slightly at the word freak, and she melted back into fear.

"S-s-s-sorry Verto, sir, I didn't mean it like that," she stuttered in surprise. I put my hand up, silencing her words instantly.

"No that's okay, you don't need to be afraid of me. I suppose you have every right to consider me that. We came from about forty years in the future, after the Saiyan race is all but gone. Don't ask, but at that time, the only Saiyans remaining are all Super Saiyans, and in reality they are beyond that in regards to power," I began.

"You mean strong enough to defeat even Frieza?" she gasped.

"More than that, let me give you an example. In my current physical state, if I were to fight Frieza at his maximum power, I'd probably plow him over, and that's if I took it easy on him, very easy. I'm not sure I would even have to power up," I said, putting my fist to my palm. Fasha looked like she was going to faint.

"Look, I'm not going to hurt any of you. I really don't like to hurt others, but I will if I must. Understand I'm just trying to get home with my friends and family," I said, putting a hand on hers.

"I'd hate to see you transformed then," she muttered.

"Actually that's kind of a problem, I can't, into a big hairy ape anyway," I grinned before frowning in the back of my head. _Ah crap, I just had to say that didn't I?_

"Huh?!" she sounded stunned.

"Long story, very long," I put up my hands in defense.

"One more question, and then I'll shut up and keep your secrets. Who trained you? I've never seen such a polished fighter before. Even for a power that you're talking about, since you obviously know how to hide it," she frowned slightly.

I smirked a bit, "That current short stack of a prince is the one that trained me, Vegeta. Remember the man that claimed to be my father? That was him. He's just as strong as me, I might be a little stronger, but not much," I smirked slightly. Fasha looked like she was going to lose it, but instead she calmed herself and slipped on her pink bodysuit.

"Look, just don't mention it to anyone and try to pretend that we never had this conversation. I'm doing my best to blend in but it's a little hard okay? I wasn't kidding when I said I wasn't used to being around Saiyans, can you help me out a bit?" I asked with a small smile of hope. She nodded slowly, getting the rest of her gear on.

**-**

Fasha kept her word and didn't say anything, even as Bardock asked her what we were talking about, apparently she screeched a bit loud.

"What did you do kid, touch her down low? That would explain that slapping sound and the red mark on your face!" Shugesh pointed and laughed. Fasha threw her boot at the fat Saiyan, hitting him in the head.

"Well guys, the Tremens should be bringing us some food here pretty soon. We'll go down and wait in the banquet room," Bardock suggested. _He seems a little more open and nicer today, wonder why._ We all agreed, six stomachs growled slightly, and mine was one of the louder ones. Bardock led us down the shiny hallway we were in last night; the Tremens really treated their guests well. We were led to what appeared to be a grand dining room, with a large table. Instantly the smell of food invaded my nose and I wanted to run straight to it. I was really hungry since technically I hadn't eaten in a week. Stasis apparently curbs your appetite, that or it takes longer for the stomach to wake up. At the end of the table were six chairs set out for us. The Treme workers were still putting food on the table, and there was a lot of it too. Most of it I didn't recognize, but a lot of it was meat, something I learned Saiyans preferred over everything else. That was no surprise, all my life I had preferred meat.

"Go ahead and be seated, Lord Frieza should be arriving in a few hours," a servant said, giving us the go-ahead. I had to admit, the food was good, but I hadn't eaten for over a week, anything would do at this point. The other Saiyans at the table ate just like I expected, fast with little in the way for manners and nil for chitchat. I shoveled down food right and left, even drawing a few looks from my comrades.

They actually looked impressed, "Wow, I don't think Shugesh or Borgos can eat as much as you kid!" Tora exclaimed.

"I'm a little hungry I guess," I said with something that tasted like chicken hanging from my mouth. The servants came back, asking if we wanted wine.

"No, water only. The last thing we're going to do is meet Frieza and the prince while drunk!" Bardock said. After finishing my first off-planet meal so to speak, I felt quite full and satisfied. My power supply completely replenished itself and might have been a little higher after healing in the tank. What felt like twenty-two didn't quite feel correct, but I wasn't sure.

"Okay lug heads, Frieza's ship lands in about a half hour. First thing we are to do is get a fresh batch of uniforms before we meet with him. I'd rather us not look like a bunch of misfit Saiyans who don't deserve any good missions, and not a word is to be spoken. Unless of course he asks you directly, is that understood?" Bardock asked. We all nodded slightly, mine wasn't quite as absolute but I got the point across.

"Get outta my face until then!" Bardock snarled. _That's more like it._ The group chuckled slightly, and we all began to depart.

"Hold up kid, I need a few words with you," Bardock said, causing me to flinch a little bit. _Great, what now._ The rest of the group shrugged it off, except for Fasha, she looked scared, but complied and left.

"What is it sir?" I asked.

"I know your hiding your power, a measly twenty-two hundred wouldn't stand up that rifle blast I heard go off. What is your actual power level? I'm a big boy, I can take it. Fess up, because I know it's higher than mine," Bardock started as he kept his back turned. _Damn, he's good; I see where Goku gets his brains when it comes to fighting._

"I don't have an accurate number, sir," I said truthfully.

He spun with anger in his eye, "What is that supposed to mean?"

_Okay, time for a really good lie to cover this up. _"I just never tested it, I was afraid someone would find out and treat me differently."

"Oh, well test it right now. I'd like to know," Bardock said, turning on his scouter. It hung on twenty-seven hundred, before I shifted my feet slightly. It jumped to eight thousand so fast he couldn't even blink. _Shit, I barely slipped anything out this time, time for another lie._

"Whoa," he said, "Is that just the tip of the iceberg kid?"

"You have no idea. Please don't tell anyone, especially not Frieza! I was hoping to be one of his top soldiers in time, I just needed to get some battle experience before I applied," I lied badly in a whiny voice.

"Alright I won't tell anyone, not even Frieza. You just have to make sure to keep that in control. Wow, I've never seen such control in a Saiyan before, not in regards to ki!"

"Gee thanks, maybe me and you can have a sparring match someday on the same level," I suggested, knowing it would take a hell of a long time before he would be even close to me. I heard a loud roaring noise overhead, and a few familiar and higher ki signals inside it, along with plenty of lower ones. The big one that stood out was obviously Frieza. I sensed a low power just like Vegeta's in there, meaning the prince rode along. There were a couple others that were higher than Bardock. The rest were nothing.

"Looks like he's here. Just don't say anything unless he asks it of you, we'll get you some new clothes while were in there," Bardock said, leading the way out the door.

**-**

Frieza's ship looked just like the one I had seen during my escape from Earth, the one he was standing on when he blew it up. My stomach started churning in many knots when the doors opened. Frieza wasn't coming out though, a few of the other strong powers came out instead. One was pink with blue and brown armor, with spikes on his head instead of hair. The other was teal skinned and relatively humanoid in appearance, his hair was a dark green as well and his armor was light green in color.

"Captain Bardock, you and your team are to meet with Lord Frieza right away," the green one said. I recognized them, but their names escaped me. Bardock led the way up the ramp, not saying a word to the two; despite they were obviously higher in rank and power than him. We walked down a long hallway before the pink one stopped and opened a door to a large chamber; a cold and dark ki lay just beyond it. We entered the room, I stared knives at the chair that was floating in the middle of the room, or rather, who sat in it. I sensed Vegeta in the room as well, the young version. He nodded at us from his spot next to the wall, but glared at Frieza as well. Frieza waited until all of us were in the room before turning around. Bardock had to take lead and bow to his knee first. I only did because I wanted to get out of this without incident, though my control was wavering a bit.

"You may rise, Bardock I presume? Pleasure to meet you and your crew finally," Frieza said in just as chilling a voice as I had remembered, except that he was still in his first form.

He leapt out of his chair, "Well done disposing of the Treme rebels, you shall be paid quite well for it, I will see to that. I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure of meeting your crew before today, I've heard so much about them," Frieza said as he started walking down the line.

"This must be Tora, strong. Friend of yours since childhood I hear, equally loyal as a soldier," Frieza claimed as he stepped on by.

"Borgos, and his partner Shugesh, quite a lethal pair from what I've heard. Outstanding marks in the academy, and considering you were all third class, which is something to be quite proud of. Who do we have here?" Frieza had stepped down to Fasha now; my feet twitched a little as I was starting to have trouble holding a grip on ki suppression.

"Ah yes, Fasha isn't it? As deadly a woman as I have ever seen, was she father to Raditz, Bardock?"

"No, sire," he answered very shortly and kept his attention ahead.

"I'd almost hate to be slapped by her," Frieza laughed as he stepped right in front of me.

"And who is this, I'm afraid I don't recognize you," he said in his crackly voice. The mere thought of him made me want to rip a couple of cows apart and then eat them. Him standing right in front of my face was getting to be more than I could handle. Also he wasn't quite as intimidating as before, his first form was actually a shorter than me now.

"That is my newest crew member, name's Verto," Bardock said for me. I heard Vegeta mutter out what seemed like a question, but he seemed to hold his tongue. That didn't stop his mouth from dropping for a split second when he heard my name, something I managed to detect out of the corner of my eye.

"Ah I see. He was the one who single handedly wiped out most of the attacking forces at the fort yesterday, according to what the commander said. Looks like a runt to me, but looks can be deceiving," he glanced at Vegeta this time when he said that. His finger went for his scouter, turning it on right to me. _Damn, gotta control this._ The number blipped around a bit before coming to a stop at fifty-eight hundred. _Shit._

"Good power for such a small boy! Yes, I may have a place for you in a few years once you hit your prime. You and young Vegeta over there could make a decent team," Frieza said, turning around. I let out a slight breath of relief, getting a better grip on my power. Suddenly he spun back around and threw a punch toward my neck, and without thinking I blocked it. He grinned slightly and fired another one to the other side, which I blocked as well. His scouter didn't even flinch from my number though. I was keeping my ki locked down and relying on my physical prowess, something that was more than enough for Frieza, even though he was quite obviously holding back.

"Yes, I see you have excellent skill as well to be able to read my attacks at such close range. Quite a kid you picked up here Bardock," Frieza laughed slightly. _Damn, I better not block the next one._ His next punch was also un-announced, and came straight at the gut, much faster this time. I saw it coming in time and brought my arm up with a partially attempted block. He hit dead on, and it did not do a damn thing, I expected more from Frieza. I faked a gasp before dropping in pain right away, holding my gut and playing possum. Instantly all the Saiyan ki levels in the room jumped up, but no one dared move. I cried out in fake pain, adding to the effect. Bardock seemed to be really struggling not to do something, as was the rest of the crew, except for Fasha. She was the most restrained one, and I had a pretty good guess as to why. But the tiny prince is what really caught me, his ki was barely being held back, and I could almost hear him growl.

"You're dismissed now, take that low level miracle trash with you. Suit him up into something, appropriate!" Frieza said, heading back to his chair.

"Yes Lord Frieza," Bardock said without hesitation. I stopped groaning in pain long enough to see that Frieza was holding his hand protectively, causing me to grin in and out of fake pain cries.

Bardock came over to me and picked me up over his shoulder, "C'mon on kid, you might need a healing tank now," he said walking out the door.

"Zarbon, bring me some hand lotion! My hands are a bit dry from touching such a trashy monkey!" I heard Frieza say, lighting up Vegeta's ki like the fourth of July. He kept it back though, years of control must have been drilled into him to maintain his temper, because anywhere else it did not hold back so well.

**-**

Bardock kept me over his shoulder until he came into some sort of laundry room. I kept up the act of fake pain the entire time. I eventually started to get really tired of it, so I slowly turned it down and seemingly toughed it out.

He dropped me on the floor; "Alright knuckle heads get changed and let's get the hell out of here!" Bardock fished around in the laundry and tossed me a royal blue colored bodysuit, just like the one Kibito had made me. Then he tossed me armor, white gloves and boots. The armor was just like the style I had been wearing, except it was white with gold. You could almost call it the same as what I had before, except for the shoulder pads.

"What's this for, I thought I was supposed to wear low level armor?" I asked.

"You just got promoted," Bardock whispered. Everyone else was given the same thing they had been wearing, only a cleaner and less version of it. Slipping on the gloves, the feeling of the full get up made me feel really unbeatable.

"Why did you hide your power from us?" Tora asked first.

"Leave him be Tora, he has his reasons," Bardock snapped before I could answer.

"Sorry Bardock, but there is quite a difference between twenty-two and fifty-eight hundred you know! We have a right to know why!"

"The boy hid it for his own reasons, and we will respect that. Kid, you're riding with Fasha again, try not to crush her head," he said spinning on his heel. I staggered a little bit towards the door, assuring the rest of them that I was actually in pain.

"You need a heal chamber before we go kid?" Shugesh asked.

"No he doesn't, he can tough it out!" Bardock answered for me. _Shit, he knows I'm faking it._ We walked out of the ship, allowing me to give a slight glare to Zarbon and Dodoria on the way out, as I had finally remembered his name. We flew straight for our landing sites and got in without much for words. Once inside and shut up in our pod, Fasha put her hands underneath my armor plate and slowly took it off.

Then she rubbed the spot that Frieza had punched, "You big faker, that purple freak didn't even hurt you did he?" She asked with a sly smile with a slight twinkle in her eye.

I grinned slightly, "Was it that obvious?"

"Actually you did pretty good to cover that up, I was a little concerned when you blocked his two hits. I could barely see that though, and when he punched your big gut here, I heard a slight snap, and it sure wasn't from you like it sounded. He was holding his hand slightly afterwards," she giggled slightly.

"I would have loved to tell that freak exactly what I thought of him right then and there, but its easier to handle a situation if you prevent it first," I explained.

"Well you little worm, let's see you prevent this situation. I've got to put up with you in this tight ass place again! It's a week back to Vegita, you know the drill, give me something to dream about! Try not to snap my tail bones though!" I sighed as she handed me her tail and she took mine, _Well, that didn't go too badly._

**Power levels:**

**Verto (released power to block Treme Rebel beam cannon): 10,000,000**

**Verto (suppressed after heal): 2700, later 5800**

**Verto (sleeping): 2,000,000**

**Bardock (after heal): 7500**

**Tora: 5650**

**Shugesh: 4650**

**Borgos: 4450**

**Fasha: 3050**

**Frieza (form 1): 530,000**

**Prince Vegeta: 6000**

**Zarbon: 23,000**

**Dodoria: 21,000**

**A/n: I probably didn't need to list that many levels, but it keeps everyone up to date.**


	15. Elite Status

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 14: Elite Status**

No matter what you dream about, one week in cold sleep does suck. But, in one fashion, you barely notice the time difference, it's just another day. After landing, I was informed that I was indeed promoted to elite status by Frieza and Prince Vegeta, and therefore had the option to change to an elite team. I declined that offer pretty quick, and many didn't understand why around the command center. Anyone who cleared planets knew about Bardock's team. Seemingly a team of pathetic low levels out for suicide, and one that could purge a class A rating planet in record time for elites. But they also knew that low levels never got any respect no matter how well they did.

"So you don't want to be on an elite team. Why not?" the green man at the desk pushed.

"I'm fine with where I am, my reasons are my own! Just make sure my father gets those credits, all of them!" I recited, trying to sound irritated.

"That's a lot of credits sir. It seems Frieza packed a bonus or two for you in there along with your promotion, but very well," he said.

"Thank you," I said politely before leaving the port. Bardock and Fasha were waiting outside, scowls across their faces.

"So kid, I suppose you're off to an elite camp now aren't you? Well good working with you," he extended his hand.

"Keep your handshake Bardock, I'm sticking with you," I said sharply.

"You wouldn't rather be with elites, with classy women? You'd rather stick with us pitiful low levels?" Fasha acted like it was a surprising thing.

"Is that a problem? When last I checked, elites were supposed to be more powerful than anyone else. They must have missed you five in the rankings," I said with a grin.

She chuckled, "Kids, can't live with em, can't live without em!"

"I'm sure they have a similar phrase for women," I snickered.

"Well kid, you have until tomorrow for shore leave, then were off again. I'll have the mission tonight," Bardock said, flying off.

"I gotta go check in with you know who," I said, turning to leave.

"Hold on there brat, I'm coming too! I want to know what the prince looks like in the future!" Fasha jumped into the air. _Shit, I shouldn't have told her all that._

"Well, he's not going to be what you may expect," I warned, flying along side.

"I ran into you didn't I? I think I can handle it!" she boasted. I sighed heavily, _And here I wanted to get something done._

-

"Boy, why the hell did you tell her?" Vegeta roared in anger.

"Hey, take it easy, you know I can't lie worth a shit!" I shouted back. Goten and Trunks backed off and went off to what they established as their room, Fasha was currently enjoying the bout between Vegeta and myself.

"I warned you about women didn't I? Did you listen? No! You might as well have been a fish in the sea she had you so hooked! You and your sentimental rubbish!" I said nothing, as he was right about me to an extent. I was a bit careless, but I couldn't help it. After all I lived for twenty-one years as a mostly honest human, so I had some decency, or at least partially. As if we were thinking of the same thing, he brought that up next.

"Well, if you were born a Saiyan, I would kill you for such careless antics! But I won't, and probably couldn't at this point in time anyway. But when we get home, you are getting more training than you're worth!" he snarled.

Fasha was instantly confused, "What do you mean by not born a Saiyan?"

"Another time girl, go back to your dorms, I will send the boy along later. Do not mention this to anybody, things must go on as they are meant, get a move on!" Vegeta barked, pointing at the door. Fasha was gone in an instant, not daring an order from the prince, either one.

I sighed, "So what do we do now?"

"Well, even though you let some of your power slip, I think we're going to be fine. There are two missions left, Kanassa, which leaves tomorrow, and Meat, the one right afterwards and right before Frieza destroys this place. I've been thinking that maybe we should take some Saiyans back with us, while we have the chance, and Bardock's crew is a good choice to help us against the Zerg. We can't take too many, even though it makes sense to me, and we have to be gone before the destruction. Bardock's crew was ambushed on Meat by Dodoria if I recall correctly," he said. I didn't want to slip information about that, but I did recall that Dodoria kills everyone except Bardock, but he died later._ But since I'm here, things are going to be different_.

"Okay, I think I have a plan for this. We have to assume that our being here could screw up the timeline and that it will not create an alternate one like before. Go to Kanassa, it's a planet clearing mission so odds are you won't like it. If the full moon comes into play, stay out of sight, you're fast enough anyway. When you get back from Kanassa, the credits from it should be enough to get a ship, and if not I'll hijack one and meet you on Meat. Take the Senzu beans with you to Meat. There, well, we'll think of something, but Dodoria has to leave thinking he destroys everyone. Then once he's gone we will go to Namek, Earth is too far away, got all that boy?" he asked. I nodded slowly while maintaining a deep scowl.

"Now, if something is to go differently than I have said. Say the planet gets blown up early, or something else drastically changes, do what you can to get to Namek, whatever it takes. I'm sure you can figure out the rest from there," he ordered.

"Yeah," I said with another nod.

"Oh and something else, though I said this before. Do not, under any circumstances, mate. Your time of age is coming very soon, and we need you to stay unmated because of the age change. If it was any other situation, I would be very proud if you were to take a Saiyan. However, right now that could be disastrous! You still have a while before you are considered ready, but watch it nonetheless. The females are going to come calling a bit more often now, and remember that we need the dragon to restore your previous age pretty soon, so don't be enticed! The promotion probably didn't help you any in that department, just be cautious. Many females will do whatever it takes to grab a mate, honorable or not!" Vegeta warned. I nodded again, not knowing quite how he could know all of that.

Then he smirked slightly, "Good, now get the hell out of here you elite rubbish!"

**-**

I flew back to the Desert Rain rather quickly. My stomach was starting to wake up from the cold sleep, and I really wanted another meal before I went to sleep again, I may not have time in the morning. I landed at the door, startling the crap out of a Saiyan couple that was making out. They gathered themselves and gave me a slight salute. _It must be the armor._ I went inside and they resumed their activities as if nothing happened. The bar was it's typically busy self: several Saiyans drinking, more arm-wrestling, more fights, more rants, everything. Until I stepped in, that's when all activity ceased. I looked straight ahead and walked through the masses, after all these were the same people that mocked the shit out of me just two weeks ago. I heard a few whispers go by my ears, mostly low class and low-level trash type things. Then things like "cheater" hit my ears, and I wanted to erupt right there.

_No, don't lose it, they're just jealous, Frieza favored you and not them and they can't stand it. What the, why the hell am I even thinking about this? Pretty soon there won't even be a Planet Vegita left! I need to stay focused on my mission!_ I ignored all of the other comments that murmured by and headed for the elevator. Until a familiar and large female crossed my path, namely one with a broken wrist. _Great now what, _I sighed and looked up at the mountain of a woman right in the eye.

"My apologies for earlier, I had no idea you were so, oh, powerful! I offer myself to you sire, I would give you a strong child of the elite!" Clerpe said, kneeling down and keeping her head below my own. On her knees she was taller than eye level to me, but at the moment I wasn't sure what to make of her. I took note of the moan that came during her apology. _Okay, what the hell just happened? _

Another woman landed next to my feet, "No, don't take her, I would make you truly happy!" She was a bit more attractive than the ogress, but all of them were very pretty regardless. Another pair of women awaited in front of me just a few steps later. _Man, Vegeta wasn't kidding about this_.

"Sorry ladies, got places to go, planets to conquer!" I said, stepping over the mass troop of Saiyan women. _Oh I can't believe I just said that._ I entered the elevator without another word, though the women were starting to follow. The doors closed before they got to the elevator, tripping over themselves. The hallway I entered was quiet, for a few seconds. Then the doors to what must have been a stairwell burst open and women flowed from it, running towards me in a stampede. _Oh shit, _I thought as I started running for the room, not as fast as I could, just enough to get away. When I reached the door, the girls were still bashing each other to get to me first. _Time for a Vegeta impression. _

"First one that comes through that door will get their head blown off, now get out of my sight!" I shouted. It stopped the crowd in its tracks, though I saw more admiration than fear in their eyes. The stampede came even faster as I opened the door quickly and shut it behind me, gasping for breath a little while I held it just in case they knocked it down.

"What's wrong kid?" Tora asked from his place in the chair.

"Stampede, women, crazy," I stuttered.

"Yep, he's getting close to mating age, the women are starting to pick it up. The elite promotion probably didn't help any! You were right Fasha!"

Fasha winked at me, "Duh, I told you! I've slept in the same general area as him four times, you'd think I could pick up a scent like that!"

"Does that mean you're gonna try and bag him Fasha, you aren't too much older are ya?" Shugesh cracked, he really couldn't resist.

"Good luck with that one kid, the ice box doesn't come out for just anyone!" Tora laughed.

"Oh shut up, I'm just waiting for the right guy. Sure the boy is sweet, and one drop dead sexy Saiyan, but he's not the one for me!" _Good, this should be easy to avoid then. _

"But, there's always a chance for him I suppose, that scent is starting to get to me," Fasha dragged on, causing me to slap the side of my head in embarrassment. _Spoke to soon, spoke to soon._

"Hey kid, there's a package of some kind here for ya. While you were at the command center, some short dude without a tail dropped it off earlier and said he was your father. What I don't get is the size of it, it's so damn small!" Tora said, tossing me the object. It was a red capsule, marking it for food, allowing a smile to come to my lips.

"Oh and he left this one too, he was rather insistent about this one!" he said, tossing me a green one. I went to me and Fasha's room and broke open the green one. Inside was a scouter, but the lens was purple instead of the usual colors. There was also a note.

_Boy, Trunks managed to rig this scouter to detect only dragonballs. Use this if you get into a bind and need to go to Earth or Namek. I strongly suggest you keep it in capsule form though, scouters are very fragile._

There was no signature, but I knew it to be from Vegeta. I walked back out to the table, stuffing the green capsule into a pocket, and prepared to break open the red one, one that was sure to be my saving grace tonight.

"What is that thing kid?" Tora asked.

"A gift, something that needs to last me a bit too," I said, pressing the button and throwing down the capsule. Inside was a lunchbox, and upon opening it I found a sandwich.

"Some kind of storage device, ingenious," Tora noted.

"They can hold more than this, but that's another story," I said, preparing to dig in.

"Kid, you got too many secrets," Tora sighed.

"Food huh, sure doesn't seem like much," Shugesh poked his head over my shoulder.

"Then lift it," I said with a grin.

He did, and dropped it right away, "Whoa, what a sandwich!"

"Yeah, I know!" I said, and began eating it. _Strike up another one for Mom, she's good at this._

**-**

Bardock came back later, confirming that Kanassa was the next mission, and everyone's game face went on. According to Bardock, Kanassa was a job that Frieza's elites didn't even want a part of, and it was one that required a full moon to carry out. That and the journey to Kanassa took three weeks, making it about six round trip. I didn't really like the sound of staying away from Planet Vegita for that long, but time wise it did make sense. _This is gonna be tough, especially the part where I'm running around trying to stay out of their sight._ We all went to bed early, but Fasha and I stayed up a bit late, talking in our room and beds. She laid back and waited a bit to start a conversation.

"So kid, do you ever want a mate?" she asked.

"I suppose, but I'm going to try to wait awhile. It's not a top priority," I said truthfully, almost forgetting to add the translation instead of years.

"Why's that? You're in prime age now. You're not really in prime fighting age for a few zurals when you develop the rest of your body, but prime mating age is considered to be nine, and that smell coming off you is getting a little, intoxicating," she smirked slightly. I couldn't smell anything, but then I suppose I wouldn't be able to. I could smell females pretty well though, and they were pretty intoxicating themselves.

"Well, I have my reasons, and Vegeta doesn't want me to mate either," I said.

"But why not?"

"That's a bit too complicated for you to know right now," I replied, turning to my side.

"Oh, you're that way? I guess that explains why you were so nervous," Fasha said.

"What way?" I asked.

"You know, you like men better," she claimed.

I instantly felt sick, "Ugh, no. I'll be single forever before I get that desperate!" She didn't respond to that, but instead switched the subject.

"So, what are you going to do on Kanassa?"

"What do you mean?" I asked as I turned back around.

"I mean about the full moon, you said you don't transform right? Well in case you didn't know, were not exactly the masters of control when in ape form. I don't want to revert and find that I or one of us accidentally crushed you while mistaking you for a Kanassan fish face," Fasha said, sounding a bit concerned.

"Oh that. Don't worry about it, I'll keep away from that area," I said.

"It's kinda hard to do that, we go all over the planet like that. Generally we follow the moon until nothing remains of the population," she said.

"Well, to be truthful, I've never seen a Saiyan transformed before. I'm kinda interested," I said, which was technically true anyway.

"What, you never seen even Prince Vegeta or any others transform before?"

"Didn't you notice that none of them had tails? They were either removed or cut off during battle, and I probably wouldn't recall seeing myself in that form either," I said, staring at the ceiling.

"Okay, just stay away when the fireworks start. I never remember any part of transformations, and probably won't be able to control it very well," she said kicking off the light, "Good night kid, and if I hear you snore at all, well you know what will happen!" she grinned slyly at this while I blushed myself to sleep.

**Interlude 14.1 –Positive-**

"Well Videl, good to see you today," Bulma said, turning a few screws in her time chamber repair.

"Um, Bulma, I kinda need a favor. But I don't want Chichi or Gohan to know just yet," Videl stated as she turned red.

"Oh okay, if it's that big a deal. What can I do to help?"

"Take a blood sample, I want to know something. I wound up sick and tired this morning after training and it's never happened before," she said, practically dangling her arm for a needle.

"Better not let Goku know that you asked for a needle, he'll put you into a psyche ward!" Bulma joked, causing the two women to chuckle a bit. She led Videl down to her med lab, humming a tune on the way.

"So how long until we can get the boys back?" Videl asked.

"Well, that might be awhile on this end of things. The time travel chamber repairs haven't been going quite as well. The temporal connectors keep shorting out," Bulma said, annoyed.

"I'm not even going to ask what that is," Videl said, entering the med lab and sitting where Bulma directed. Bulma drew the blood and entered it into the computer, letting it analyze for a few minutes.

"So does that mean we need to use the dragon balls to bring them back? I thought we were gonna use them to make Verto young again?" Videl asked, rubbing pressure into her stuck arm.

"Don't know yet Videl. Shenron will be recharged before Porunga is, and if they are not back yet then I will ask Shenron to bring them back, as well as erase the Buu memories. We could always use Porunga for the other wish, but hopefully we won't have to. I don't like the idea of burning up wishes before the Zerg arrive. The potential damage might last long, or too long for some. I took a precaution like this when the time accident occurred and packed a dragon radar for Vegeta. If he really did end up on old Planet Vegita, then he should be able to hop a ride to Namek or earth and get a wish that way, but he'd probably have to be careful. He always spoke of tight security in the old days of Frieza's empire," Bulma explained just as the computer beeped that it was done. Bulma looked over the readout real fast, and a wicked grin crossed her tired face.

"So that's why you didn't want to tell Chichi and Gohan, until you knew," Bulma said slyly.

"You mean I'm positive?"

"As positive as Vegeta is a Super Saiyan, and I have a pretty good guess of who the father is! Yes Videl, you're pregnant!"

-

I woke up in the middle of the night, anxiety for the Kanassa trip had interfered with any sleep that I got and brought me back to life. Fasha was still out cold, and the nearby clock told me we had about five hours before departure. The only thing about the clocks is that they were not in Basic language. Fortunately Vegeta had given me a really quick crash course in Saiyan numbers, not that it would have mattered that much. I laid back down and attempted to sleep, but it was all for nothing.

About ten minutes later, I got up and put on my blue top, but without the armor. _Might as well get a drink or something._ I looked towards the refrigerator type cupboard for at least something. To my great dismay, Shugesh and Borgos had in fact finished off whatever was in there. That left the bar as the only nearby source of fluid, but this time of night it would surely be empty. I trudged out the door, closing it quietly and headed for the elevator. Upon exiting, I found the bar was a bit toned down, but there were still easily a hundred Saiyans in there, conversed in random activities. A few of them looked up at me with harsh glares, at least from the males. The females however were all giving me the look that you want to see if you're looking for a really good time. _Maybe I should invest in a skunk farm, that might help._

I sat down at the bar, and a purple-headed alien made his way over, "What will it be sir?"

"I don't suppose you have just water do you?" I whispered.

The bartender looked shocked, "I've been waiting for the day someone would ask me that, and from an elite no less! Yeah I've got plenty of it!" He poured it into a small glass and gave it to me.

"No booze for you huh?"

"I don't drink, and I got a mission in the morning anyway," I said, taking a sip. I thought I tasted something a little strange in the water, but considering it wasn't Earth water, I wasn't overly surprised.

"Say, you're that low level that got promoted by Frieza himself after just one mission aren't you?"

I took a second to answer, "What gave it away?"

"I'd say your hairstyle, or your combat suit, but I hadn't seen you before. I only work the night shift after all. No, it's actually the look those females are giving you. According to my sources, they've been waiting for you to turn up again, though I doubt that any of them expected you this early," the bartender said as he kinda gave me a knowing look. I grunted slightly and shifted my eyes over to the pack of female Saiyans, giving me the hungry look.

"I'm not interested," I said, turning my head back and taking another sip.

"You know, some females can't take a hint. But I heard that Saiyan females actually like it if you reject them a few times. Make them work for it or something," he explained.

"I'm not really familiar with Saiyan practices, I was raised off-planet. And being in battle most of your life kinda makes you disregard things like that," I said in a make shift lie.

"Yeah I heard that you might be a bit un-familiar with all of that. I just find it strange that one day they all hate you, and one day they worship you, doesn't sound like typical Saiyan behavior."

"Women are strange, I learned that a very long time ago," I grinned slightly and took another drink. I sensed a power directly behind me, and a hand reaching for me.

I spun around with my hand raised, "I don't suggest that," I said. To my great surprise, it wasn't some random drunk or a hungry female.

"You must have really good ears kid," Bardock chuckled. _Well, considering my senses, good ears is close enough._

"Something like that," I grinned and spun around in the chair again, back to my water. Bardock took a seat next to me, ordering some wine and drinking slowly.

"Couldn't sleep either huh? I never can before a mission, most of my sleep I get during stasis, despite trying beforehand," he said, sipping his wine. I said nothing, just continued drinking my water until it ran out. The barkeep refilled it quickly before moving on.

"Don't take this the wrong way kid, but why don't you ever use your scouter? That little thing can save your ass," the older Saiyan asked.

"I don't have any need for it Bardock, other than maybe language translation," I said in truth. I had seen this one coming, and they might as well know it. They already knew I could hide my power, and ki sense was not much different. Still, I felt a little strange telling him straight up without thinking it over very well, but then again, I was a bit on the tired side.

"I know you are pretty good at manipulating your ki, but still its best to know what you're up against," he leveled with me.

"No Bardock, I don't have any use for it because I can sense ki levels," I whispered the last part.

"You can sense them, is that a natural ability? I mean sure you can feel them through the air right before a ki strike, but do you mean you can feel them somehow even across a distance, like a sixth sense? Is that how you knew I was behind you?"

I nodded, "Yeah, anyone can learn it, and it saves your butt a hell of a lot better than any scouter, and it doesn't blow up from overload. The only time it might throw you a little is when you feel a huge power go by, lets say Frieza for example. The feeling might make you pretty edgy, and a bit fearful. But it's great for finding enemies that can't do such things as sense or hide their power. After a time, certain ki levels will feel familiar, and you can detect extreme emotional states," I explained.

"When we have our next shore leave, which is after the next two missions, can you teach me how to do that?"

I smirked slightly, _he might learn more than just that_, "Yeah sure." Another power appeared behind me, but this one's hands were reaching for something other than my shoulders. I spun in the chair again, seeing one of the mating-crazed females standing there.

"Greetings sire, I offer myself to you! I would give you the first Super Saiyan in fifteen hundred zurals for a son!" I noticed that she was wearing a red bodysuit, marking her as second class.

I decided to play along, "Really, I'm not so sure about that. You don't seem that powerful," I snickered. I expected a shocked and angry female, but instead another one flocked up, this one wearing first class colors. It was one of the ones that had bowed to me earlier.

"No sire, take me instead! I'll give you a real Super Saiyan, not just false hopes that a lower class would claim!"

"Why you little bitch!" _This should be good._ Bardock turned in his chair, slight interest crossed his features. Sure enough, the two females then lunged at each other and started brawling right in front of us. Power wise, the first class woman had the advantage, but the second was crafty, and wild as she started up a nasty hair-pulling match. Soon after several punches, kicks and throws, some that wiped out some tables, both females lay on the ground, huffing, puffing and death glaring at each other.

"Looks like your popularity grew a little kid, but real elite women rarely come here. They have their own camp elsewhere, only the most desperate females venture here," Bardock smirked and got up, "I'm off to get some more details about our mission, and if you don't want to get marked in here, I suggest you go back to bed," he sighed a bit and walked out of the bar, passing the angry females. _Well, you learn something new about Saiyans every day._ I entered the elevator, much to the chagrin of the females, and went back to my room, falling asleep much faster this time.

**Interlude 14.2 –Curious Bardock-**

Bardock waited in the bar patiently, he'd waited ten minutes already, but he sighed and gave it ten more just to be sure. The bartender had already confirmed that his package of sedative was delivered and that the boy had downed all of it. Once that time was up, he marched up to his dorm he shared with the crew. Fasha had told him earlier that the boy had been hiding a lot of power, and he had gotten a glimpse of it himself. Now his curiosity stirred, and he wanted to know more. Fasha had assured him that the boy would not try to kill them, not that he would have to try hard. She seemed to have grown attached and rather fond of the boy, despite what she called a freakish power lurking beneath him. Then she told him how the boy hadn't bothered using a scouter, like he didn't have to. Since then, Verto had become more open with everyone, especially her. Even though he shouldn't of, he managed to get some of that information from the boy at a convenient time when he wasn't completely awake. Bardock strapped on his scouter, a modified version of his old one, capable of holding up to three million in a number before exploding.

He entered the apartment in silence, stepping carefully to Fasha's room. There he was, sleeping soundly in the bed next to Fasha's. He looked so peaceful; it almost sickened Bardock as he pressed the button on the scouter. He scanned Fasha first, to get an accurate reading. She came out as three hundred and ten, a very accurate reading considering she was asleep, that made sense. Then he shifted up to the boy, not sure what to expect. The reading started at fifty-eight hundred, and if the boy was asleep, that didn't compute. But then as the boy seemed to become more comfortable, the level slowly rose as the sedative drugs took more effect. Bardock's eyes opened wide in surprise as the level hit seventeen thousand and didn't show any signs of stopping. Verto's breath became more relaxed as well, as full sleep began to take him. Then the number shot up impossibly quick, and Bardock almost gave himself away with the shock that took him. The level hit three hundred thousand and got higher much faster, and Bardock began to regret his life all of a sudden. The number got even higher, and Bardock thought he would have a heart attack pretty soon, or wake someone up just for it to stop.

_Man, only Frieza and his family are this strong!_ Another shock came at Bardock, the number kept going up, but this time slowed down as it approached two million. Bardock became very sweaty and nervous, _that boy wasn't kidding when he said he could hide his power. _The number hit two million and hovered around there, fluctuating as it should as if he was asleep. Something told Bardock to take a closer look at the boy. He crossed the room and stood in between the beds. He looked down at the kid's gut, and found that it was just as solid and unscathed as before.

_But Frieza punched him there, a solid hit if I ever heard one! Granted Frieza didn't punch as hard as he could of, otherwise the kid couldn't have blocked the first two. But even if this boy was that strong, there would surely be a bruise or something, he was in cold sleep and,_ Bardock cut off his train of thought when Verto suddenly shifted in the bed. Bardock shut off the scouter and left the room before he blurted something out. He sat down in a chair in the living room, catching his breath.

_Good lord, he was faking it when Frieza hit him, it didn't hurt him at all. Does this mean his true power level is twenty million, or higher? That is insane, or is it even higher. Could he be a legendary..._ Bardock's scared thoughts were cut off when he heard Tora get up and come towards the living room.

"You're up early Bardock, too much drinking again?" Tora chuckled.

"No, just not tired."

"I wonder how the kid is going to perform on Kanassa, I'd almost hate to see him transformed," Tora laughed again. Bardock flinched slightly at that thought.


	16. Kanassa

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 15: Kanassa**

I awoke the next morning feeling quite refreshed, despite the fact that I was about to sleep for three weeks. Tossing the rag of a blanket aside, I noticed Fasha was already dressed and out of bed. I yawned and stood up, stretching a little bit. Then I dressed in my blue top, white-gold armor and boots. Slipping the gloves on, I left the bedroom and entered the rest of the household. The rest of the crew was in there as well, last minute discussions before departure.

"Well look who's finally up, I thought we'd have to haul him out ourselves!" Tora joked.

"You coulda just woke me up if you were in a hurry," I said with a slight frown.

"Well now that he is up, I'd like to get some food before we head out. It's gonna be a long trip," Bardock stood up and headed for the door. He gave me a strange glance when he walked by, one that resembled curiosity and fear at the same time. Down in the bar, we took a seat, despite the silent crowd staring at us. The purple-headed bartender walked over and took an order of food down as the ramblings continued amongst the crowd.

"Why's that elite mingling with low levels?"

"Look at that trash, why'd Frieza promote him anyway?"

I sighed slightly, I just didn't fit in anywhere without dispute. That's when a group of ten elites strolled into the door, all of their uniforms similar to mine, and power level wise roughly around five to eight thousand for each of them. I wasn't that good at detecting numbers rather than just raw ki so it was only a guess. They were right around or slightly above my own suppressed level but were below Bardock's.

"What a dump!" one shouted.

"Packed with low level garbage, might as well have them all out on the street!" The glares and comments that were directed towards us quickly shifted to them.

"Well, this could get interesting," Tora said.

"What are you staring at, low level?" One elite asked as he grabbed a third class who was wearing rather messed up armor. He threw him to the ground an instant later, breaking a table and disrupting the activity that was at it. In this case, it was an arm wrestling match between a second class and a first class. Not much was said or done after that, and the elites went around the room picking on random Saiyans, stealing their food, kissing their women, general rowdy and unacceptable behavior.

"What a bunch of punks," I muttered out loud.

"No kidding, if they come over here I'd be glad to re-arrange their faces!" Shugesh said, taking a bite of his food that had just arrived. I tuned out the activity of the group and focused on my food. Eating went rather un-eventful, until one of the elites came over and picked up Fasha by the back of her armor, holding her up in the air.

"Hey lemme go!" she yelled, getting our attention.

"Look at this trashy woman! I've never seen such a slut, your place is in the home watching the children and cooking the food! You don't belong in a warrior's garb, now take it off!" he ordered with a ridiculous laugh. With that said, he grabbed her by the tail, and she went limp just like that. Bardock and Tora were already on their feet, Shugesh and Borgos weren't far behind, and since I was next to Fasha, all I did was spin around and shoot them the death glare from hell.

"Put her down right now," Bardock growled a warning.

"What are you going to do low level, fight me for her?"

"If I must," Bardock cracked his knuckles. I could see where this was going in a big hurry, so I stepped in before it got really ugly.

"Let go of her, or I will do something about it. And trust me, you won't like it," I said calmly.

"Well what do you know, an elite in a room full of trash. You should come with us kid, this place isn't fitting for you and our kind!" a crony stepped up with a cold handshake.

"Offer declined, I'm staying where I am, and you are the ones that are leaving. These are my friends, and you will go through me before you touch them!" I retorted. The sight of the leading elite gripping Fasha's tail started to make my blood rush.

"You really shouldn't be associating with trash, Lord Frieza and King Vegeta would frown upon that."

"Funny, they didn't seem to care last I checked. But at least they don't act like a bunch of punk fools that loaf around and chicken out when the tough missions come along!" I smirked when their expressions changed quickly.

"Fine then, low level. We challenge you and your crew to a duel, right here and now!" the leader said, letting go of Fasha and her tail finally. I grinned slightly, my Saiyan pride just got insulted, and now it was ready to do something about it.

"No, I will take you all myself."

"This kid must be insane, he's only got a power level of fifty-eight hundred! There's no way he could take even one of us, never mind all of us! Maybe in a few years he could do it though," another laughed with his finger on his scouter.

"It's your death wish kid, but very well, time to pay the price!" the leader shouted as his fist came forward. I made no attempt to block it or even move, and he caught me straight across the face. I noticed my cheeks didn't give an inch nevermind give me any pain, these guys were that weak. _I guess I shouldn't be surprised, Frieza didn't do anything either._

"Huh?" the group said in confusion. The leader didn't, he was too busy tending to his now broken fingers, wrist and arm.

"Did you hit me, I couldn't tell. I thought a gust of wind went by," I smirked big time now. The group snarled and attacked all at once, punching and kicking in random places quickly before falling back in pain. There I was, a lonely soldier, surrounded by ten fools that just hurt themselves, as I once again didn't try to block anything.

"Man, what is he?"

"That's no ordinary kid!"

"Guys, shouldn't you be leaving right about now? This place is getting crowded, and the occupancy rating just went down by ten!" I yelled at them, picking one up and hurling him towards the door. The door was already open then, courtesy of a few low levels that had been watching the battle. Number one went flying out the door and landed on the pavement type surface, moaning and groaning. I shoved my knee into number two's chest and kicked number three in the arm, before throwing them out as well. Number four and five met similar fates, only I think their backs were broken before I threw them. Six and seven had recovered and attempted an attack on me at this point. I struck one across the face, bending his nose the wrong way and making it bleed a lot. The other landed behind me and knife hand chopped my head, and I heard his bones shatter when he hit my skull simply because he tried just a little too hard. They soon joined their friends on the street pile that was forming. Numbers eight and nine attacked as well, while number ten got behind me and grabbed my tail.

"Oh no! Verto!" Fasha yelled from across the room. I punched eight so hard that he went flying out the door and bounced over the pile of bodies. Nine got kicked into the ceiling, and then backhanded out the door. A hard squeeze hit my tail, and I used it to flip him around to the front. He was surprised to say the least, and I saw this was the leader that broke his entire arm just a minute ago. He sent a backhand to my advancing forearm, breaking his other hand in the process. I grabbed his tail and squeezed lightly, and he went limp. Then I squeezed harder and heard a few pops of bones breaking inside of it.

"Never touch my tail! Now get out and never come back!" I shouted in anger, twirling the body by the tail and tossing him out the door. I heard a sickening thud when he landed, and his ki slipped to almost nothing. _Damnit Verto, get a hold of yourself, you're letting your Saiyan side take over again! Argh, I don't care, you don't hurt my friends!_ This mental argument went on with myself for a few seconds while a loud barrage of clapping sounded from the room, coming from the same Saiyans that had insulted me at every corner.

"Wow kid, I've never seen a pack of elites thrown out like that before!" Tora said, joining in the applause. _Somehow I know that's going to come back on me though._

"Okay knuckleheads, show's over. We need to get going!" Bardock ordered, leading the way out the door. I trailed behind listening to all the cheering and the pats on the back I was getting and bringing out a slight smile.

I walked by the elite pile, almost regretting what I had just done, but I had to get one last line in, "Don't ever touch her again, otherwise you will die next time!"

**-**

We found out that I actually got a space pod to myself this time, though I was a bit disappointed, as was Fasha. _But then Vegeta wanted me to stay away from that kind of activity, maybe it's for the best._ As the pod lifted off and instantly bumped up to sub-light speed, I pondered over what I had just done back at the bar.

_Why the hell did I just suddenly lose my temper like that? Sure I would have done something, but not like that. It was like the Saiyan beast inside of me took total control, and I even enjoyed beating the stuffing out of those ten goons. I don't like to hurt others, unless they're evil. But weren't they evil, or at least horribly cruel? True they deserved some of their own medicine, but then, why did I enjoy that so much? Hmmm, maybe Vegeta was right on the mark, maybe he did want me to become more of a Saiyan then I was. Maybe it's a teenager thing, I did make a few outbursts a lot when I was human, but I never did anything like that. Hell I stayed out of fights if I could. Maybe it's this place; something about this planet has been giving me extra urges._ A beeping sound went off and a button flashed green. I pressed it, and my window became some kind of video screen. Bardock sat in his pod, looking right back at me through the screen.

"Kid, there's something I need to know before we go through with this. Have you ever battled under your transformed state?" That question threw me a little bit, and I wasn't sure how to answer.

"Why do you ask?"

"Let's just cut to the chase kid, I nabbed a scouter reading on you last night when you were sleeping. Since you can't really control your ki level when your out like a light, I figured I could get an accurate reading. It read around two million. I knew you were hiding your power, and I figured out you faked pain with Frieza, but good god! What the hell are you?"

I sighed with a frown, "Can we have this discussion another time Bardock, I know you fear my strength. I can't say I blame you for that, but I'm trying to keep it a secret, its bad enough Fasha already knows!"

Bardock seemed to accept that, "Tell me something then kid, are you a legendary Super Saiyan?"

I grinned slightly, "I'm a bit more than that, but for your purposes, that's close enough."

Bardock looked relieved and even more worried at the same time, "You're not gonna dog on us and kill us for knowing your secret are you?"

I gave him a confused look, "No Bardock, I consider you a friend and a good leader. I'm just trying to get back to where I belong," I quickly shut up, realizing that I had just said too much. It was far too late, he already heard it.

"And where is that?"

"Bardock, can you make me a deal? I will reveal all of it to you soon and I'm not going to kill any of you. In return, can you not mention any more of this? My, father, is pretty tight about clamping down this subject. Right now I'm just trying to blend in and traveling with you guys on missions so I can get the money for a ship. I understand if you want me off, but I strongly suggest you keep me on the team, is that a deal?"

Bardock thought about it briefly, "Fine kid, but you and your father better explain this well when the time comes, I don't like being kept in the dark. Is there anything else I should know for the Kanassa trip? You never answered me about your ape form, and frankly I might not want to see it now!" I sighed, _One more secret won't hurt, and he would find out anyway._

"Since you're going to find out anyway, I don't transform into an ape anymore. A power that I, acquired, negates it. So just send me ahead or behind or something so I don't get squished," I said as the gas jets started to turn on.

"You don't transform?! How? You have a tail! Oh never mind, I'm gonna get gray hairs trying to figure you out. Good night kid, see you at fish face central!" The screen blipped off and the gas vapors started to invade my lungs, putting me into hyper sleep instantly.

**Interlude 15.1 –Engaged-**

"She is? Really? Oh finally, GRANDCHILDREN!" Chichi celebrated as Bulma hung on the other line of her phone. Gohan and Goku had just come in from sparring and didn't hear any of the conversation, but they did see her dancing around the kitchen.

"Oh he's here right now Bulma, and I don't think he knows yet. She said she didn't tell him right? Oh okay, I'll tell him then, he does have a right to know after all! Bye Bulma!" Chichi hung up the phone with an evil grin displayed on her face.

"Uh mother?" Gohan looked at her, confused.

"What's going on Chichi?" Goku asked with the same confused look that his son had been using.

"Oh nothing much. Bulma just called to tell me something, something good, especially for Gohan," Chichi hung on the note she wanted to sing at the moment.

"Oh, what is it mom?"

"I thought you might know, it's something about your fiancée. Do you know?"

"Mom, I haven't truly proposed to her yet," Gohan said, scratching his head.

"But you mated with her didn't you Gohan, according to Vegeta that is the same thing," Goku nudged his red-faced son's ribs.

"Well did you or did you not elope? Tell me the truth son!" Chichi screeched.

Gohan held his head in slight shame, "Yes mom, but how did you know that?" Chichi uncovered the very top part of the dress like outfit she had on, showing a dull pair of bite marks right around her collarbone.

"How else mister? Your dear, innocent father lost control of himself and did that!" Goku took his turn to be embarrassed, hiding behind a chair.

"But you bit me back Chichi!" Goku claimed.

"That isn't the point! Well Gohan?" Chichi demanded. Gohan obliged and showed off the new red mark that was just under his training gi, accompanied by red blushing on his cheeks.

"Well then, since that is now settled, you want to know what I just heard? Do you know something about Videl that you'd like to tell us, or do you not know?"

"Other than the fact that she's Mr. Satan's daughter, I don't know what you're talking about," Gohan said in truth.

"Well that's no surprise. She went to Bulma first anyway, and she didn't want you to know until she was sure!" Chichi smiled slightly.

"Know what mom?"

"Yeah ChiChi, what is new about Videl?"

"Well Gohan, she's pregnant, you're going to be a daddy, and I'll finally have GRANDCHILDREN!"

THUD! No sound came from Gohan, until his head hit the floor, passed out cold.

-

I quickly found out why we had a meal before we left, three weeks of cold sleep really sucks! To me, no time had passed at all, like a standard sleep over the night. It was when I saw some dust on my armor plate and that I was a more than a little stiff, I got a feel for how long we were out for. The computer beeped like crazy until I was awake. In the window, Kanassa stood out as a large blue world in the vastness of space. On the other side of it, I could see a that it did have a moon, and it looked pretty full or close to full today. _They sure know how to time this stuff._

"Alright team, rise and shine, we will be landing on the far side of the planet. The pods are already programmed with a deserted landing site, over and out!" Bardock's voice came on and went off just as fast. I hung on to the sides of the chair as the pod entered the atmosphere along side the other five. Suddenly I began to feel like I shouldn't have been there. After all it was a planet-clearing mission, and I didn't feel any excitement for wiping out a population, especially a peaceful one. But the feeling seemed a little distant, so I shook it off. The pod came through the blue sky and hit the dirt below with a lovely thud making me glad that I hadn't eaten in a long time.

"Planet Kanassa, average power level of a Kanassan warrior is five thousand. Tracking power levels… there seems to be a severely lower number of high powers on the planet. All of them are located approximately two thousand miles to the west. Downloading to scouter…download complete, good luck Verto," the computer voice said, making me confused in an instant. I exited the pod and arose from the crater just as the others did.

"Did you guys get the same message I just did?" I asked.

"About the Kanassans being lower in number than they were and they're all over there a ways, yeah I got it," Tora said.

"Our last check on this planet showed two million citizens, my latest scan shows twenty thousand and dropping quickly," Fasha said, finger on her scouter. _What the hell?_

"Someone beat us to it?" Tora asked.

Bardock seemed to shake his head, "Well, if that's where they are, that's where we go! Whatever is killing the Kanassans may be our target as well, so keep your eyes open!" We lifted off and blasted towards the last area of Kanassans. Using my ki sense, I could find no other major power out there other than the Kanassans themselves, and they were getting slaughtered by something. Whatever that something was, I couldn't pick it up. I tried my scouter, but it kept picking up Kanassan only.

_Okay, this could get ugly. Either we're facing something or someone that can hide their power, or there is little ki to sense in the first place. For some reason, I hope it isn't the latter._

The terrain started to get a little rough as we flew over it, signs of battle and massive troop movements. Then we came up to a deserted city that had been wiped out. Dead Kanassans lay everywhere and I sensed no activity from it at all. Most of the blue fish faces looked like they were beaten, bit and clawed to death, there was a lot of spilled blood. _This doesn't feel right._

"Yo, Bardock, what do you think of all of this?" Tora shouted through the air. Bardock didn't answer and kept flying forward, straight for the last signals of Kanassans. We came to within a few miles of the place, and the ground was littered in blue bodies, but then I started seeing some strangely shaped purple ones. But then I realized they didn't look so strange anymore.

"Hold on guys!" I shouted.

"What kid, you see something?" Bardock asked.

"Wait here, I need to check something!" I shot downwards by shutting off my ki momentarily, and landed swiftly in the midst of dead bodies. The smell of death and blood filled the air, and it was tearing me in half. Half of me was sick, and half of me loved it. Rather than dispute which half was correct, I did my best to block it out and search for a purple one. I found one quickly, in the midst of a bunch of blue ones, and pulled it out by the leg. It looked like a dog, but the talons on its four legs told me otherwise. I pushed the dead Kanassan off the dog like creature, and jumped back when I saw its face and upper body. It's face revealed two dead but very green eyes, all kinds of teeth for show, several sharp fangs, and it's barely hairy backbone held bumpy like spikes for hardened protection.

My brain hit realization pretty fast, _Oh shit, don't tell me! How in the hell did they get here?_ I stood motionless for a moment, silently feeling for the Kanassan's misery. _It seems the timeline changed a hell of a lot more than we imagined, I'll need to speak with Vegeta as soon as we get back._ With that thought in mind, I rose up to meet the others again, I held a grim look.

"What is it kid?" Bardock began.

"Let's hurry to the last stronghold of Kanassa, there's something here more fearful than Frieza himself!" I said the last part to get the point across and we flew off to the northwest, the powers of the last few thousand Kanassans were slipping away every minute.

**-**

We came up on a still smoking city, the last hundred or so blue victims were still fighting, their battle ki shining as bright as they could right before they silenced.

"Guys, don't kill the Kanassans yet. I need to know what they are fighting!" I shouted, jetting ahead of the crew, letting out my ki again. I was sick of holding it back and it sounded like I would want it out now. The result of which caused the wind to blow them back a little, and I heard all of their scouters blow up, save for mine. The Kanassans stiffened when I showed up, but almost looked relieved almost. Whatever they had been fighting had vanished into the shadows.

"You! You are one of the ape like creatures from the visions! You and your kind are here to kill us all!" One Kanassan began by pointing at me.

"Hey, I'm not here to kill you, what was it that you were fighting?" A few more Kanassans showed up next to him, charging ki into their palms. _Damnit, how the hell am I going to get an answer at this rate? _

"Easy brother, this is the peaceful one that didn't want to harm us in the dreams, remember? It was the other five that were after us. Sorry, young Saiyan, but I'm afraid you and your friends are too late. We're all that's left now, the strange creatures attacking us have made sure of that, and will be back soon for another round," a new blue fish man said. Judging by his attitude, I would have guessed him to be the leader.

"Have you killed any of them?" I asked.

"We have, but they have superior numbers and are wearing us down slowly, it is only a matter of time. Try as you might, I'm not sure even you can save us now," the leader said as if he knew me. _Wanna bet?_ I thought out of instinct.

He stared directly into my eyes, "Yes I am sure of that!"

I gave him a strange look, but got a quick explanation. "Yes boy, I can read your thoughts, and I know how strong you are compared to the rest of the universe at this point, and I believe your friends are here now!" The leader looked up in time to see Bardock and the crew drop out of flight and come swooping down, landing next to me.

"Go ahead and finish us off, it's what you monkeys do best!" the leader shouted at us, much to my surprise. The insult got its point across, and the crew fired dozens of ki blasts right by my ears, killing off the rest of the weakened Kanassans without resistance. I didn't fire though, I looked the other way for two reasons. First, I didn't really enjoy the whole killing off all those who are weaker, despite what my instincts had been doing lately. Two, a scattered ki reading started to make itself present.

"Whoa, instant barbeque! Anyone want charred fish?" Shugesh asked. Bardock turned around to me, but I kept my back to him, looking around us in quick glances towards the shadows of the remaining buildings.

"What's your deal kid, you have all this power and refuse to use it. Hell if I didn't know better I'd say you were an overpowered pacifist! I liked you better when you were trying to hide your power and astonished everyone with your absurd skill! You're too soft to be a Saiyan!" Bardock claimed. His words hurt me on the inside, but I had my reasons.

"You know, Vegeta tells me the same thing a lot, and I'll use my power when I need to. This is one of those times, look in the shadows!" I warned.

"What the hell are you talking about kid, there is nothing else here! Before you overloaded our scouters, we only picked up the Kanassans! Now they are gone, we're done here!" Bardock shouted angrily.

"Just trust me, and get in the air right now!" No one dared move, though I think fear held Bardock back from just striking me right there, I suppose I wasn't making much sense. I didn't need to though, seconds later a shadow emerged into a purple dog like creature, this time very much alive and very hungry looking.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" five voices shouted at once. I knew what it was, and I knew it had friends with it. Just as I thought, more of them appeared around us in a perimeter, about a dozen or so.

"Bardock, get into the air now, all of you! I'm about to release some of my power on these things, you don't want to get in the way, move it," I whispered loud enough for them to hear. That got the ball rolling, once the crew was in the air, I started my power up, letting the silver aura appear around me and flash with lightning violently. Instantly I felt great to have my hidden potential flow through me, kind of like being a Super Saiyan, the feeling of power was enticing. I pulled up about a tenth of my full power, figuring I didn't have much time for more. It was a great relief to my mind not to have to concentrate so much on keeping my power down. It also allowed me to focus better on the ambush that was likely to happen in just a few seconds. Just as I finished, the things rushed towards me in a bloodlust like rage. I jumped into the air just as they hit, making some of them crash into the each other, I brought my hands up to above my forehead as they did.

"Masenko, HA!" I shouted, letting the small golden blast go and hit dead center. I wiped out only eight of them in that shot, but the other four were injured. They hissed and started jumping at me, even though I was about twenty feet in the air. Some got close, even the one with only three legs and the stump gushing blood. I swooped down and power kicked the three-legged one, taking out its other leg and ripping it off. I kicked the next one in the face and shattered its teeth with my boot. One of the last two took advantage of the distraction and managed to get behind me, it's huge jaw coming around my arm and clamping down. Extreme pain hit as it tore down into my left arm muscles and bone. I powered up my aura again, knocking it off and throwing it backward with my ki. Another one of them jumped up and slashed at my midsection before I could react. It tore through the armor and hit my chest, drawing a little blood there. I kicked it away and got back into the air. All four lined up and ran forward, even the one missing two legs, waiting with drooling jaws.

"Ka, me, ha, me!" I started and chanted with my arms drawn, slowly flying forward and then floating downwards so I wouldn't hit the ground too badly.

I landed, "HAAA!" I shot the giant blue blast and hit the whole area the four creatures took up, and any scattered ki that was residing in the area vanished. The four remaining beasts were nothing but dust then, and the crew landed next to me. I felt disgusted with myself for allowing them the close proximity that they preferred; it obviously didn't help me much no matter how strong I was.

"Nice attack! You okay kid?" Tora asked. I was bleeding in several places, but I kept my composure and stood up, blocking some of the pain with my ki.

"What were those things?" Shugesh asked.

"That, is what me and Vegeta need to get home for, those were the Zerg!"

**Power levels:**

**Verto (suppressed): 5,800, 10 percent power: 55,000,000**

**Bardock: 7,500**

**Tora: 5,600**

**Shugesh: 4,600**

**Borgos: 4,400 **

**Fasha: 3,100 **

**Saiyan Elites: 5,000-8,000 (varied)**

**Kanassans: 5,000**

**A/n: Now who saw that coming?……Yeah that's what I thought, Booya!**

**Zerg do not have detectable ki to measure, which is why I haven't put in any levels for them.**


	17. Secret of the Mystic

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 16: The Secret of the Mystic**

"Okay, let me get this straight**.** You and the prince came here from the future by accident and were trying to get home by use of these magic wishes from a magic set of orange colored balls that are created by Namekians, I get that. The fact that the prince and yourself as well as a few others are the only Saiyans left, I don't quite understand that, but I get it. I even get that you and the others are god-like super Saiyans with unbelievable power compared to Frieza, hell I've seen that. But I'm truly lost on those things you just killed!" Bardock said after I explained to all of them the real story, with the exception of my true human origin. I told them about me being from a different dimension and all of that, but I left out the fact that I used to be a twenty-year-old human, and I left out most of the details regarding my power, as even I didn't have the answers there.

"And you said you've seen those before?" Shugesh added.

"They are the Zerg, nasty little demons of destruction as you can see, and as I would understand it, they shouldn't be appearing until forty years in the future. They were on their way to Earth, where we are all live. Vegeta and I were on a mission to another place and we ended up here because his son messed up the time machine. But just like you, I don't get it either. They shouldn't be here, but then I wouldn't be bleeding like this either," I said, holding my stomach slightly. Fasha finally got over her fear of my deep power as it had blown everyone back earlier, and came closer, taking a off strip of my jumpsuit and clamping it around my gushing arm, applying pressure.

"I knew that when we traveled here, it might mess something up. This kind of change wasn't what I had in mind. It's like the Zerg are following me around now," I said, laughing slightly, then groaning in pain.

"What can we do here then?" Bardock asked.

"Well, if Frieza still wants this planet, he can have it. But I would like to stem the Zerg troops from coming back, so I suggest we find the source of them and stop it. We found one on Earth that looked to be a staging area in a basement. It will be a small structure that looks like a tunnel, ow!" Fasha had just poked a little too hard on my torn arm.

"But without scouters we can't find it!" Shugesh said.

"I don't think that will matter very much, the scouters didn't pick them up at all," Tora said.

"I can sense them, but I have to be close. Around the Zerg I've noticed a scattered ki signature, one reason the scouter probably didn't pick it up. But they can sense energy just as well or maybe better than I can. I'm getting a reading from that direction, but I can't tell how many there are. If I could risk powering up any further I would, but I don't think it's a good idea to get anyone else's attention right now!" I pointed with my good arm while Fasha ripped some more spandex up and patched up the other. I didn't want to power up further so not to alert Frieza and ride into a ambush on the way back, it sounded counter-productive.

"Well, that's about as good as I can do. We won't have any first aid services until we get back to Vegita," she said, standing up.

"Okay guys, we might as well do something while we're here. We're going to find this Zerg structure and destroy it, so we don't have to deal with reinforcements. Let's go!" Bardock shouted, powering up his aura for flight. The others followed suit and I did as well, lifting into the air. Bardock let me take off first, since I had the only ability to detect anything, and the only scouter left was useless now. Flying over the destroyed cities, I noticed the scattered ki reading was growing in intensity. It meant that there was either more of them, or just one big strain. But so far I had only seen one type of Zerg, and hoped deep down that I didn't have to see some of the other types. The ground looked strange up ahead, and then we passed over where it was covered in the same purple crap that was in Satan's basement, and it smelled really bad.

"What is that kid?" Bardock asked.

"It's a Zerg colony, they're definitely here," I said, continuing ahead. We passed a few organic structures, really ugly ones. A few of them were pouring out the purple creep stuff, and my memory of the game started to return even more. Scattered ki feelings kept up, and I looked ahead to see a larger building ahead. Zerg types were scrambling around it, minions as large as a truck were dragging in bodies and trees, and whatever other materials they had. I noticed smaller worm type larvae hanging around this structure, and watched as one suddenly started turning into an egg. We stopped above to wait for the egg to hatch, a process that took about five minutes. Then the egg literally blew up and a pair of Zerglings popped out and growled at us, even though we were about fifty feet up.

"That is a primary hive structure of some kind isn't it? We should destroy that!" Bardock suggested.

"Yes we should, I'm more concerned with the backup troops though. There doesn't seem to be very many here considering the destruction we saw all over the planet," I said, holding my ribs a little where the Zergling had caught me real good. My bodysuit had begun to turn purple there. I scanned around, following the purple creep around until I could find another structure, a different one. I found one about a mile from the central hive cluster, and recognized it as a canal.

"You guys start here, I found the stem!" I shouted, blasting off to the canal. I reached it quickly and brought my palms together, despite the pain.

"Ka, me, ha, me," I chanted. Inside the canal, I saw something start to emerge. It looked to be at least ten feet tall, maybe more. Its fangs were dripping green and it had huge talons on its arms. I didn't see any legs, but I didn't care to find out.

"HAAA!" The blue beam smashed into the building, crushing whatever was coming out of the magical hole in the ground and collapsing the building. The purple mass on the ground started to retreat, and I breathed a little easier. I flew back to the others, only to find that they were blasting the crap out of the hive cluster. But it didn't seem to take much damage from their blasts, as they were probably not releasing anything strong enough. I powered up ki into my hands and let loose a hellfire attack of ki bolts, striking the hive with undaunted fury. Initially it didn't seem to damage it much either, but then I saw what looked to be blood dripping from its walls.

"Focus more energy into your attacks, that'll finish it," I suggested. The crew nodded and fired off stronger beams. The larvae below started dieing. I saw the hive start to shrink the more we damaged it, until it suddenly exploded in a big wave of blood that splashed over us and all over the ground. The purple creep receded rapidly with the rest of the buildings when we blasted those into nothing. I took a seat on a boulder, holding my gut a little harder as it hurt pretty bad now.

"Well, that went off without a hitch!" Tora sounded disappointed. My feeling of scattered ki had dissipated quite a bit, but hadn't vanished, I felt something coming from the distance, slowly.

"I'm not sure, I wouldn't bet on that!" I said, suddenly picking up something from up ahead of me. I jumped up again to see dust in the air, and then I saw several Zerglings racing our way, along with some very big and gruesome looking creatures, the same ones as the one I had seen trying to come out of the tunnel.

-

We lifted up into the air quickly, to stay away from the Zerg momentarily. The new type of Zerg that showed up didn't seem to have legs, just a tail that they guided on like a snake would. Unlike a snake though, they stood out and up, about fifteen feet or so tall, a large head with plenty of fangs. It looked like there wasn't a jawbone at all, despite the many teeth. The creature had talon claws that had to be five feet long each, shaped into hardened blades of Zerg skin.

"Man, this shit keeps getting weirder and weirder," Tora said, charging up ki into his palms.

"Stay in the air, they don't seem to have the ability to shoot blasts or fly," Bardock ordered. The huge new creatures stopped below us and lined up. Then all at once their jaws, or lack there of, opened up and they spat into the air. Instead of saliva, I saw small needles come flying through the air, straight at us. Thinking that they might be poisoned, or just plain deadly to touch, I blasted a quick ki wave into their path, destroying the needles.

"What the hell?" Tora shouted.

"Seems they can shoot some sort of green spit into the air. They're long-range types, it must be either very poisonous or very corrosive," Bardock observed.

"Man, let's just blast em into dust!" Fasha whined. No one argued that point, and we started firing multiple blasts at the beasts, tearing up the Zerglings in the process. The new creatures seemed a bit tougher than the lings, it took a few blasts to do anything before some blood was drawn. They were still spitting needles at us, but our ki blasts wiped out the needles before they got close. Eventually the ki blasts started to beat them down, and soon their huge bodies collapsed to the ground, sending chunks of Zergling into the air briefly. In only a few minutes the new Zerg had been obliterated, granted there weren't very many of them, only twenty or so.

"So was that the main base?" Bardock asked me.

I shrugged, "I don't know, they sent backup, but there wasn't anything here. Since the canal was here it would make sense that it was the main base, but it's hard to tell. They might have just got here and were still establishing it. I'm still getting a bit of scattered ki over that way, but its coming here pretty quickly, and I can't sense anything else," I admitted, looking to the distance.

"Then we wait for them," Bardock said, standing tall in the air. A few more minutes passed, no sound or sight of the Zerg.

"Kid, you sure you're okay, the bottom part of your suit is turning red!" Tora pointed out. I looked down to see that exactly, my ki had numbed it well, but I was still bleeding from the center area.

"Take off your armor, I need to see it!" Fasha flew over, insistent.

"I'm okay, and I don't think we have a lot of time," I said pointing.

"Keep saying that and you might collapse pretty soon, now shut up and take it off or I will for you!"

I sighed, _Women._ I slowly took the armor off, wincing when I hit a sore point. My suit top had been torn through clean through the armor in two big swipes, and the claw talons had imbedded themselves into my gut a few inches deep, something that was bleeding a whole hell of a lot. Blood loss started making me feel a little faint.

"Stay still kid, I'm gonna seal the wound!" Fasha said, holding out a single finger, while I steadied myself in the air. Then she blasted, hitting the very tender wounds and causing my to cry out in pain. I lost control of my flight and she had to hold me up by the other arm. Then she blasted again, pain tearing through me when she did. _Man, it sucks having to rely on them like this and not taking it up to full power, but its better than getting blown up on the way back._

She finished quickly, "There, that should hold and stop of the bleeding." I gave her a thankful look, before flying on my own again.

"There they are, some flying ones this time!" Tora pointed. I looked up to see small flyers in the air, they came close pretty quickly. Again I couldn't recognize what they did right away, but the fact that they didn't have wings was making me a bit nervous. Bardock fired a weak blast and hit one dead on. It seemed to shake off the blast, and I saw very thick, scaly skin.

"Armored skin layers, look out!" The crew jumped out of the way as the flyers came through; they swooped around and came back for another pass. I put my hands forward and powered more energy into them, letting one strong blast go and hit one in its head and neck, if that's what you want to call it. It smoked and coughed, and it's scattered ki faded, tearing through the air seemingly on fire. But then it came straight at me, burning and dying at the same time. I got ready to punch it, but my sore body didn't move fast enough, and the beast bore down faster than I thought possible. Then something very strange happened, it's skin exploded right there. Then its body beneath did, but some kind of green stuff came pouring out and rained down on me, hitting my tender midsection. Whatever it was, it started eating my bodysuit, and then some got to my skin. I dropped from the sky in burning pain, hitting the ground with a nasty thud.

"Kid!" Bardock shouted. That was about all the rest of the crew was going to take, and started shooting stronger blasts in random directions, taking out the kamikaze Zerg. Tora and Fasha landed first once the flyers were gone. I sat up, feeling like I had some serious sunburn going on.

"Note to self, don't stand in front of one of those," I groaned slightly, before clutching my stomach. Fasha peeled back what was left of my blue suit top.

"That green crap struck your wounds and started to eat part of the seal, its bleeding again, and now internally I'll bet!" she fired some ki into it again, causing me to jolt and stiffen slightly. It was a good thing I was so much stronger compared to her, otherwise her blasts probably would have done some unneeded damage. I started hearing and feeling a rumbling sound, like an earthquake, but not as strong, it was more like a stampede of some sort. Bardock and Borgos flew over to check it out. They were back pretty quick, coming down to our position where Tora and Shugesh had joined us.

"We have multiple contacts coming in from the west, estimated at least three to five hundred, maybe more. Lots of those ground troops, a few of those suicide flyers also!" Bardock said, "This is it guys, looks like a main attacking force, let's take em out. Fasha stay back and watch the kid, and don't look at the sky unless they get close. Got that? Good, lets go!" With that said, Bardock, Tora, Shugesh and Borgos flew off in the direction of the extremely strong source of scattered ki I was starting to sense. I attempted to get up, but my midsection felt like it had been torn badly, and it hurt just like someone had stepped on my tail.

"Don't you dare get up, you're not in fighting condition!" Fasha yelled at me.

"Well, if those things can do this to me, imagine what they can do to you guys! What does Bardock plan to do against that? He's no fool, but it would be foolish to take on a pack of beasts that can do crap like this to even the strongest fighters!"

"Oh don't worry, Bardock isn't the team captain for nothing, he has a plan!" Fasha assured me.

"And what is his plan going to do?" That's when I heard four distinct feral roars, very loud and very vile, and familiar as I had done it before as well. I relaxed when I saw the Power Ball in the sky, showing off light like a fake moon.

"Good answer, good answer."

"Yeah, that's one of the best moves the entire Saiyan army has, and Bardock came up with it a long time ago. It's a fake moon blast, that simulates.." I cut her off when I put up my hand.

"Yeah I know, I've used it before," I said with a grin. Fasha kept her back to the battle, though the fake moon was above her head and not going to affect her if she didn't look up.

"You have, you mean you have transformed before? But why aren't you doing changing now? You're looking right at the thing!" I was about to answer when the ground shook some more, this time because the transformed Saiyans were stomping the ground, I sensed large ki beams going off as well.

"Because my power is different than it used to be," I said.

"You mentioned that before, but you never said that you had transformed. You can tell me, we're all in this together! We seem to have a few minutes before were needed," she said with a smirk. So I started telling her about the whole incident with Trunks and the mystic power up, as I had not told them at all about that before. Taking my time with the explanation, I concentrated my ki into the wounded areas of my body, slowly healing them. It was a nifty trick that Piccolo had shown me. The drawback to that of course was that it used up my ki and left me drained. This left me thankful that I had so much power still available, and it wouldn't do any good anyway if I was too injured to use it. I doubted my body was going to take a real power up very well, that and it might be detected.

**Interlude 16.1 -Beasts vs. Beasts-**

"Moon blast explode!" Bardock shouted at his white ball in the sky, squeezing his fist together. He would have preferred to rely on the real moon, but it was broad daylight and it was not scheduled to come back around the planet for another day or so. Since the creatures didn't seem to be able to manipulate energy, he felt fine about using his fake moon ball. Instantly the four Saiyans started transforming, and the upcoming Zerg stopped in wonder, a few Zerglings turning their heads in interest. Bardock finished his first, but waited for his crew to do the same. All at once the Saiyans erupted with a loud and violent roar, and some of the Zerg backed up a little bit, nothing would certainly blame them. The sight of four seventy-foot apes is a bit intimidating. But that didn't stop the Zerg from charging.

The main force of Zerglings charged first, attacking the feet and legs of the huge apes. They paid for it, soon Zergling bodies were kicked and thrown through the air, and others were squashed under the huge boots. Bardock found a Zergling clinging to his ankle, clawing it like crazy. He reached down and picked up the little bugger with two fingers, before taking it into the palm of his hand and crushing it, purple blood splattered over his furry wrist. The remaining Zerglings backed up a little, and the larger creatures came forward and started shooting their needle spines. The needles struck the Saiyans, but couldn't get past all the fur or the tough skin, rendering them useless. Bardock and Tora charged forward and started stomping all over the now not so big creatures, littering the ground with crushed bodies. The ones that escaped their wrath tried to shoot more spines; only to get mouth blasts in return.

While Bardock and Tora were mopping the floor with the front line Zerg, Borgos and Shugesh made their way around the battle by making huge bounds and getting on the Zerg back flank. There were several kamikaze flyers were buzzing around. They came at the Saiyans and detonated before either one could pound or blast them. A few hit Borgos with its green acid in the chest armor, Shugesh got a few on his legs. Both Saiyans roared with pain, but didn't slow down and started mouth blasting the backwash Zerglings, who were trying to retreat. Bardock and Tora finished killing the Zerg on the front line and came up quickly, chasing the rest off, severely dwindled numbers for the Zerg.

"What do you think Bardock?" Tora asked with a growl.

"They'll be back, I think I hear something else coming!" Sure enough, the Zerglings came back and attacked the huge Saiyans legs again, only to get knocked away, kicked away, or stomped on. But then a larger type of Zerg came calling. This one was huge, easily thirty feet tall, but had to be fifty feet in length and forty in width. It had large tusks on the front, resembling a really large elephant. This one charged without fear and ran towards Borgos first. The Saiyan stood tall and waited for it, sending a fist into its back when it got into range. The elephant-like creature staggered a bit when the fist hit its back, some bones were crushed. But then it leapt forward and tackled the Saiyan, before mauling Borgos with its huge tusks, cutting him up in several places before piercing the armor. Shugesh jumped up and threw the creature off Borgos, who wasn't moving very much. Shugesh grabbed the thing by the horns and used his fantastic strength to launch it into the air, when Tora and Bardock fired mouth blasts at it. The ki attack tore it in half, before both halves came falling down.

Borgos managed to get up and bash one of the halves in anger, shooting a mouth blast at the other one and destroying it as well, though the thing was long dead. Bardock and Tora waited a few minutes, watching out for more Zerg but seeing none. Tora nodded and shot a mouth beam at the fake moon; destroying it and making the Saiyans revert to normal. Borgos staggered a little bit, his armor was a bit red where the elephant Zerg had speared him.

"C'mon guys, were leaving this hell hole," Bardock ordered, flying back to where Fasha and Verto were.

-

"Yeah, there really are old gods called Kais in the afterlife, the oldest one I think is the one who gave me the mystic power. He gave a friend of mine that power as well, said something about it being hidden deep inside of both of us, just needing to be pulled out. Once we get home we have to use the dragon balls to restore me to my eight-year-old body, but to ask the dragon to keep the mystic power. Supposed to enhance my potential I guess," I shrugged slightly.

"You're better off this way if you ask me," Fasha frowned. I couldn't really argue so I slowly glanced around and realized the loud battle had ended. A small beam shot up and killed the fake moon, much to Fasha's relief, and mine before she went ape on me, no pun intended. Bardock and the others flew back, Borgos looked slightly injured.

"So?" I asked.

"We just kicked the crap out of them, but we saw another type, a big one. Probably about fifty feet long, thirty feet tall, something like that. It had huge tusks, that help any?" Tora asked. I did my best to get my memory on the subject rolling on that one, reaching the answer quickly.

"I think those were Ultralisks, I'd just call them elephants though with that description!"

"And the other things, the fifteen footers with the shooting green needles?"

"Hydralisks, I think, or just hydras for short. It has been so long since I played that game anyway," I shrugged.

"Glad to see your memory is coming back on that subject," Bardock sneered.

"Hey, cut me some slack! Before I only saw them from a two dimensional picture, I didn't know what meeting one would be like!"

"So what was this mission you and the future prince were going on?" Fasha interrupted, curious.

"We were going to a place to get information on the Zerg, my old world where the game was created. I figured that would be the best bet since these Zerg act almost just like them, and the buildings and purple crap on the ground are the same too!"

"So, they sense energy like you?"

"Yeah I think so, I know they can sense at least me pretty damn well. They didn't seem to notice very well when you guys blasted them, and I know I can't sense them worth a crap, I have to look for a scattered ki feeling," I explained again, standing now, but holding my stomach as if my guts were about to fall out.

"What do you suggest for returning, do we tell Frieza or not?" Bardock asked.

That question threw me a little, "How about we don't? Let that purple headed freak find out what's here for himself when the Zerg start destroying his empire!" I snarled at the mention of his name.

"In that case, we wiped out the Kanassans, that is our story guys!" Bardock said a little loud to get the point across, getting several nods in return.

"Lie to Frieza, boy what a death wish! I never liked him anyway. Why'd he want this dump so bad anyway, is he out of his tiny little mind?" Shugesh asked with a bright grin.

"Yeah, but not in this case, I think this planet has special energy or something. Supposedly you could develop psychic ability if you stayed here long enough," Bardock muttered, glancing around. _Special energy?_ I thought as it set off a warning bell or two inside of my head.

"Yeah I heard that too, that you could read minds and see the future and stuff if you lived here!" Tora added.

"Frieza's such a paranoid one too, he'd kill for the chance to read minds!" Bardock snorted.

"Now there's a scary thought, Frieza reading minds!" Shugesh laughed. A pile of rubble moved behind us, causing everyone's ki to spike up, ready for battle. I sensed a halfway normal energy level, not Saiyan, but not Zerg either. A blue Kanassan arose from the rubble, he was very torn up, with a big scowl on his face.

"Well well, seems the Zerg didn't get them all!" Tora laughed.

"Be silent, baboon, I seek the pure hearted one!" That got him several confused looks, until he narrowed in on me, holding my gut from the wounds the Zerg inflicted.

"Come here young one, there are things you must know! I'm the last one so it is I who will tell you."

"What is it?" I asked in a gentler voice.

"I know things, like how those Zerg creatures found this place, and about you!" He motioned with his hand and I floated over to him with caution, I wasn't quite sure what he meant by that.

"You can come over without caution, unlike your friends I trust you. You should be able to trust me!" the fish yelled, causing me to move a little faster.

"Hold on kid, it could be a trick!" Bardock shouted behind me.

I turned back for a brief second, "If it is, fry him."

-

The Kanassan led me about a hundred yards away before stopping and turning, asking me to land before him.

"I know of your plight to get home young one, as well as to fight the Zerg creatures there on your planet. I also know of the mystical powers the Kais unleashed within you, for it emits a powerful ki like signal. However, it isn't completely ki your emitting, ki is only part of the puzzle, the unlocking factor. Anyone who can sense ki will only sense ki from you, including yourself right now. Another energy you are emitting is called Psi, and it can be an even more powerful energy when harnessed to its maximum capacity. Ki and Psi are completely different energies that make up your life and spirit, and can be used separately. But unlike ki, Psi has a slightly higher limit of usage in the hands of a true master, as it is also your mental energy. Since it is part of your spirit, it could be used as much as you want as long as your physical body is able to channel it!" he said, taking a deep breath before continuing. I allowed that to sink in, though I was more amazed than anything else.

"The catch is you must have a pure enough heart, which you do. Otherwise I'm sure the great supreme Kai would not have released such a power within you and your friend Gohan. In time you will learn to use Psi as well. For Psi combined with your enhanced Saiyan ki power, will create a greater power in the fight against your enemies, a sacred power if you will. It will be some time before you learn the process of calling up Psi, and I cannot help you, there isn't enough time. Be warned, the Zerg can sense Psi even from the farthest reaches of space. That is how they found you, and us. Our telepathic abilities are a result of Psi as well. Do you understand all of this?" I nodded grimly, understanding the just of it.

"I understand the difficulty learning all of this quickly as well as fighting your enemy that you can't sense very well. Do not despair, for you will return to your place and time, and you as well as Gohan, will learn how to harness Psionic power in the future when the time is correct. Once that is accomplished, your true ability and purpose will become clearer. Until then, good luck, young pure hearted Saiyan! And I apologize for this," the fish bowed slightly before lifting into the air. He then leapt forward suddenly and punched me across the jaw. His hand broke instantly and left no pain for me, but he didn't pay any heed and changed direction. He charged up his power and rushed at Bardock and Tora, who were more than ready for him.

"Die you freakish monkeys!" he shouted. It was too obvious to call him suicidal, and Tora vaporized the Kanassan, leaving only his words behind to me. I gazed at the smoke created by his departure.

"The things you find under rocks nowadays!" Shugesh joked. I floated back to the group, fresh thoughts about this great power called Psi that I was emitting but couldn't use or sense myself. It was like a bad case of B.O. that you just can't wait to get rid of, or in this case, learn to use. _Boy this puts a new spin on things._

"So what did he have to say before he decided he didn't want to live?" Tora asked me.

"Something I didn't expect. Not that it matters now," I replied.

"All right then, let's get the hell out of here!" Bardock announced, powering up his aura. He must've realized that he didn't know exactly where he was, and looked at me. I chuckled slightly and tossed him the scouter that was still on my ear. He smirked slightly and rose into the air with the rest of us, blasting off towards the ships.

"You really shouldn't fly as hurt as you are!" Fasha frowned as we cruised through the air.

"Yeah I know, but I'm using my ki to heal the wounds as we speak. It's a little trick a Namek showed me a few months back. The only drawback is that I going to be a bit drained on the way home, three weeks of sleep might actually feel pretty good!"

"Damn, you can control that better than anyone I've ever known. Can you teach us how to do that?" Fasha asked in a lower voice.

"Maybe, whenever we have the time to do it. It's really not a hard batch of techniques, you just need to be patient with it," I added. About an hour passed of flight, most of it discussed on what to do when we get home and the fighting abilities of the Zerg. We came up to the area where we had landed before; the smoke was still coming off the pods a little, as we were not gone for that long. I suddenly picked up more scattered ki signals, and quit concentrating on healing my body right away.

"Guys wait!" I shouted. We all stopped and floated in mid air, waiting for me to tell them why.

"I sense Zerg like signals up ahead, I think they're close to the pods!"

"Shit, let's check it out!" Bardock shouted, blasting off again in a big hurry. We found the pods crawling with Zerglings, who seemed to be sniffing around the area, especially my pod. _That Kanassan wasn't kidding about their ability to pick my signal up! Wait a sec, that gives me an idea!_

"Damn things just don't know when to quit!" Bardock yelled, charging up his ki.

"Wait Bardock, you could hit the ships. I have a better idea, let me draw them off. I think I've healed enough to take them on at least, stay here!" I said, powering up my ki from its suppressed state. Just as I figured, the Zerglings' attention quickly shifted to me. I swooped ahead of the Saiyans and made a quick pass by the Zerglings, causing them to jump, fall and trip over each other trying to get to me. I flew off towards my pod, passing it and flying slowly enough for the Zerglings to follow without giving up. Sure enough, the Zerglings fell for it, chasing me down quickly and getting away from our ticket home. There had to have been more than a hundred of the vicious creatures. _Well I've had enough of them getting close and causing this much damage, I'll finish them off quick this time!_

"Okay you little bastards, time to die!" I said, powering up some more and holding a bright blue ki ball in my palm, thumb in and fingers up. I waited for them to pack and then stack up, and out of the range of the pods. I grinned a bit, it was the first time I tried this without being in ape form, and it wasn't draining me at all.

"Big Bang Attack!" I shouted, letting the explosive ball go, ki lightning surrounded it. It flew towards the Zerglings and landed in the middle of their group, flashing into a huge ball of light before the incredible sound hit my sensitive ears. While the ki blast alone would probably be enough to win, I wanted to make sure; I had enough of all the surprises today.

"Now go to hell!" I screamed, firing another big beam into the giant ball of energy. A mushroom cloud formed a moment later as the rocks and dirt were blown into different directions. I turned my head as a boulder went by, letting it go un-interrupted. I scanned the dust blown around, sensing no sign of scattered ki. I restored my suppression, something I forced myself to make a habit of. The smoke cleared some more, and there lay twenty or so barbequed Zergling bodies, about a hundred shy of what had been crawling around the pods.

"Wow, what an attack," Bardock and Tora both said.

"I'd eat them, but they'd be too dry now!" Shugesh laughed. I smirked and pulled the clamp over my arm off. It was slightly red and bruised now, but the cut had healed into a scar. My belly had a couple skin covered scars as well, something just ki healing wouldn't finish, but it would do for now.

"Let's get going, the sooner the better!" Bardock said, climbing into his pod. The rest of us did as well, but I took one last second to look over the wasteland created by the Zerg destruction. _Whoever you were, thank you for this valuable information of my hidden powers, I hope we meet again someday, Kanassan._ With that I climbed into my pod and the door closed as it took off, entering space a half minute later and pressing on towards Vegita.

**Interlude 16.2 –A Villain's Plan-**

"Lord Frieza, interesting news. Planet Kanassa was cleared as of last night!" Zarbon bowed slightly even though Frieza's back was turned.

"Oh?" was all Frieza said, clearly not caring one way or the other.

"Kanassa? That job has been in the pool for months, I knew that most of our elites didn't want any part of that place. I thought we'd have to do it ourselves!" Dodoria said.

"No a band of Saiyans took it!" Zarbon explained.

"Wow, their elite teams are getting better and comparable to our own now!" Dodoria said with slight astonishment.

"Actually it was a band of low levels, it was Bardock's crew!"

"What? No way, even for that luck driven team!"

"It seems that they pulled it off though, no life signs of the Kanassans were left. It seems as though we should keep a better eye on them, a small group like that on a full moon would be tough to beat," Zarbon said.

"What, are you scared of them Zarbon?" Dodoria laughed.

Zarbon took that insult in stride, "No certainly not, I just think we should keep better track of them that's all. Like that Bardock, it seems his power level has risen higher than most of our first elite class above the level of eight thousand. That youngster that Frieza promoted is still on his team last check, and we haven't been able to measure how strong that kid really is. Most readings point to fifty-eight hundred, but I have seen reports of higher potential. It seems that three weeks ago the youngster beat up a team of Saiyan high elites in a bar fight and really mangled them all easily. The highest of the group was eighty-three hundred," Zarbon said, slightly surprised himself.

"Still nothing to worry about you green paranoid gook!" Dodoria sneered.

"Well, unlike you, I do like to use my brain sometimes. What were to happen if Bardock and his crew teamed up with prince Vegeta and a handful of other great fighters? How would you like to tangle with that group on a full moon?" Dodoria didn't answer; mental calculations were still being attempted at two plus two.

"Only a fool would welcome that scenario!" Frieza grinned slightly.

"Yes sire," Zarbon said carefully.

"When Bardock's crew arrives on planet Vegita, let them heal in the tanks, and then order them to planet Meat. Order young prince Vegeta and his assistants Nappa and Raditz there as well. Have them all leave at the same time so they arrive together!"

"But sire, planet Meat is full of weaklings. Sending that many Saiyans is overkill, even without the moon!" Zarbon argued.

"Those are my orders Zarbon, because while they are in transit to Meat, the monkey farm is going bye-bye. If you want to get rid of weeds you have to get them by the roots, and I wish to battle the last remaining Saiyans. Something about that young boy intrigues me. We will send them out, blow up the planet Vegita, and then wipe the rest out on Meat!" Frieza started laughing like a maniac, frightening Zarbon and Dodoria.

**Power levels remain the same, if you want the ape form levels, just multiply the previous levels by 10. **

**I thought about having Fasha transform as well, but trust me, there wouldn't have been a point to it.**


	18. Indecent Exposure

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**A/N: Believe it or not, this chapter manages to stay PG-13 all the way through with today's standards. Besides, I know a lot of fanatics out there love the romantic stuff, so this chapter is geared more towards them.**

**Chapter 17: Indecent Exposure**

"Vegeta never really discussed the issue with me past an insult, so I thought another Saiyan would be able to answer it. Why is it that we act, well, normal around each other, yet act cruel even to each other around those not of our race. I mean I understand acting that way towards Frieza and others who are enemies. I've always been taught to be a gentler person, despite what old high and mighty pushes me towards," I said, sitting in the chair at the apartment. We had just gotten back from the Kanassa mission, and Bardock had sent me and Fasha ahead so I could rest up, my wounds were still a bit sore. She had brought up why I seemed so soft hearted towards others and asked my own question.

"Well kid, its for our own protection. We all hate Frieza with a passion, but at the same time we kind of want to keep our asses alive around here. I'll explain it best I can, if we were to show emotion in front of Frieza or his men, we'd probably A: be the laughing stock of the universe, and B: he'd make our lives a living hell. If we act heartless and bloodthirsty, we show strength and fear will pump up in the eyes of the enemy. I've noticed you tend to lean more towards a gentle nature, something I'm sure the prince isn't happy about," she dragged the last part long enough for me to get the point.

"I guess this is what he meant by being more of a true Saiyan. I mimic him pretty good at home, but, no offense, the women can crack that wall like it wasn't even there," I said grinning slightly.

"Yeah, you are just a big softy!" Fasha smiled and tossed a weak ki ball at me. I caught it and extinguished it in my hand, grinning back. I got up and headed for the fridge, only to find it empty.

"I think one of those Zerg clocked you over the head, we didn't stock up because we'd be gone for six weeks. Don't you remember?" Fasha giggled a bit. I groaned slightly, my sore stomach still wanted some food, and my wounds burned a bit more.

"Dare I ask, but should we hit the bar for food? And for that matter when do we get new clothes, I got a little torn up here!" I said. That part was emphasized pretty good, we hadn't stopped at the medical wing because I absolutely refused to go there, but we didn't get new clothes either. Bardock said we'd be heading out again in the morning, and that we wouldn't need a new set anyway. So I had to walk around in my torn up battle armor with the two claw marks cut into it. My leggings were just shorts now, badly cut ones too, and the sleeves were torn up as well. So naturally I was the victim of a staring contest when Fasha and I entered the barracks, but the glares were softened this time. Many Saiyans, who took the opportunity to insult me before, had instead been greeting me a little warmer. No doubt the incident with the elites had something to do with it, they seemed to hate them more than just 'the low level that rose from the ashes'. A few offered their chairs to me when I entered, others their drinks and food, even replacement clothes, though I declined, saying I didn't need them that bad. The chatter of the so-called great battle that we took part in on Kanassa spread through the gossip pool like a fire, despite the modified version of it. In truth we didn't need to say anything about it, the clothes gave it away. A few higher looking first class males had their young daughters in there as well, offering mates so to speak. After saying a polite no, the older females started in on attempts of courtship. After getting past the stampede, we had come back up to the room to relax a little bit, but now my stomach was going into rampage mode.

"Yeah kid let's get something to eat, then doesn't the prince want to see you again?"

"Actually no, but I will see him anyway. You can come if you want but I'm sure he's going to kick you out again just like last time," I said with a smirk.

"That's ok, I'm gonna stick around this dump."

**-**

After dining with Fasha, not to mention a few other lower level Saiyans that wanted to just talk to me, I made my way through the horde of females and blasted off to the low level housing. When I got there, I found that the door to the small apartment was busted open and barely hanging from the hinges. _What the hell?_

I stepped in and scanned for ki signals, and found none, not a trace. I looked around, burn marks covered the walls and the floors, there had to have been a battle here, but a short one. I looked around in the kitchen only to see a dead body on the table. It was some kind of purple alien in armor, had to be one of Frieza's troops. Another one was on the ceiling; his orange skin was melted into it along with the dent, literally stuck. _Looks like they picked a bad time to knock on Vegeta's door._

I looked through the bedrooms, finding a few empty capsules where the boys had stayed, and then what must have been Vegeta's bedroom had been torn apart. Dresser drawers hung out and random things were all over the floor. The bed had been turned over a few times by the looks of it; the intruder's must have been looking for something just as Vegeta got back home. The bathroom wasn't a sight I wanted to remember; there were seven bodies in there of various shapes and sizes. Some of the heads were gone, and the backs had been broken before being bent in half. _I have to hand it to Vegeta, he's efficient when he takes care of a burglar, or any other kind of intruder._

I chuckled slightly remembering the first time a burglar had gotten into Capsule Corp during my stay. Vegeta had mistaken him for Goten or Trunks keeping their ki low trying to get food at midnight. It had been pitch dark inside to the point where even Saiyan eyes couldn't see clearly. Vegeta dragged the poor soul into the gravity room in the dark and attempted to spar with him. Only when he turned on the chamber to two hundred times gravity and saw the burglar, the result was, not pretty. But he had a good recipe for human pancakes with blood syrup, a few starving Saiyans would have been interested. In fact there was a few hungry Saiyans that were interested once he fried the body and grilled it a bit. Then he assured Goten and Trunks that it was okay to eat the huge pancake with red syrup in the gravity room. I don't think the boys have ever been the same after that, they always thought twice before eating a pancake afterwards.

Back to the apartment, I explored the rest of Vegeta's handiwork, as the bathroom was covered in different colors of blood. I looked around the living room again, and noticed a small green capsule sticking out from the edge of the couch. I picked it up and found that it had something it in. Opening it, I found a note and I sat on the heavily damaged couch to read it.

"_Boy, if you have found this, then it means that Frieza's lackeys came knocking one day and we had to leave early. Frieza is probably in orbit as you read this, and from what I got from an extremely reliable source, who is lying in the bathroom right now, he is going to blow the planet early. But he is letting you and Bardock's crew go to Meat along with my younger self, Nappa, and Raditz. There the ambush waits. I assume you probably spilled some more unneeded information to Bardock and company. As long as they do not know about the planet destruction it shouldn't be a big deal. It pains me greatly to have to do it this way, but we can't screw up the timeline any more than we already have. I have taken the boys and gotten off the planet, and I still plan to meet you on Meat. If in anyway that the timeline has been altered more, meaning if Frieza were to show up on Meat or something else happens, then go ahead and kill him. I have a feeling that the future we know is not altered at all. Should Frieza show up and you get that opportunity to finish him, do it, and we will wish back Planet Vegita afterwards. If this turns up, then it should be just like older Trunks said, it just creates a new time line. Good luck boy_." I put the note down in frustration, _damn right the timeline was screwed up_.

"Shit!" I cursed and ki blasted the remains of the couch, vaporizing it. _Fine, if it has to be this way then so be it, it'll be easier anyway. You've just lost your protection Frieza!_ I exited and blasted off, barely remembering to contain my ki.

**-**

I arrived at the dorms to observe Bardock and Tora talking excitedly about just being ordered to Meat by Frieza personally.

"Hey kid, where'd you run off to?" Tora asked with a big bright smile.

"Had an errand to run, and it didn't turn out anyway," I said, taking off my armor and tossing it onto the floor.

"Yeah we're going with Prince Vegeta as well. I guess Meat is really packing with strong fighters according to the latest reports!" Bardock said, really starting to sound like Goku with that kind of tone.

_Which reminds me_, "Hey Bardock, has your other son been born yet?"

"Oh him, he's being sent out later this week. His name is Kakarot, but he only has a level of two. I think my mate was drinking pretty heavily for the kid to be that weak," he said quietly.

"When is he getting sent out again?" I asked.

"Later this week, I think right after we get back from Meat, why?" he asked. I sighed; _well I'm going to make sure at least one thing goes right here._

"Oh just curious, I'm gonna go grab a bite at the bar. I'll be back later!" I waved and practically ran out the door. The elevator slowed me down though, someone was coming up it. The doors opened to reveal the smaller version of Vegeta along with Nappa.

"Ah good, I wanted to catch you. Be ready in the morning! I want to get this trip out of the way, something doesn't feel right about this, and my father seems to be missing. The sooner we get back, the better, I may have other duties for you after this mission is over. I'll inform your captain!" the tiny prince said. I bowed slightly, not forgetting my role in this. He and Nappa stepped out, heading for my dorm and I stepped in, rushing downstairs in only my torn up bodysuit. I walked quickly through the bar, only to be stopped by a large group of females dressed in bright pink and gold armor, elite status for females since they had gold armor.

"Well now, has our little elite finally decided to grab a mate?" One cooed, stroking my chin slightly.

"Looks like he was in a dicey battle and needs to relieve some stress, we can do that!" another claimed as she was caressing my waist, getting awfully close to my tail.

"Excuse me ladies, I need to get somewhere," I said, gently pushing the taller women away and running past.

Barely paying attention, I heard one yelling at me, "You will be ours!"

**-**

I dashed out the door and flew into the sky, directly for the command center and launch bay. I had seen nothing but low levels for employees, so I figured that I would be able to assert myself a little bit here. I was in luck and there were only a few around, but I did sense a familiar ki about. I ran up to the desk, asking where the babies that were being sent out were kept. After getting the right direction, I made a mad dash there, only to hold my ears at the child that was screaming in there. There was baby Goku, or rather Kakarot, lying in a small crib and screaming for all he was worth.

"Shhh, calm down kid!" I rasped. He only screamed louder, making me cover my ears so tight that it would have been better to rip them off. _Well babies do need to be held sometimes,_ I thought as I entered the nursery and scooping up the spiky haired hero. Instantly he was quiet, and I do mean instantly. In fact he was content and almost happy that someone had finally picked him up and held him in his or her arms. _Must be the isolation, now for the launch bay._

I wrapped a blanket around baby Goku and ran towards the space pods. There I found several low-level employee aliens all over the floor, out cold.

"Great now what?" I said aloud.

"Now you put that brat in a pod, hurry up!" said a snappy but familiar voice. I spun and saw Vegeta at the computer console, typing like mad.

"Vegeta!" I said happily.

"Shut up and do it! And give me the pod number!" I complied and put Goku in pod number five before coming back to Vegeta.

"So where are Goten and Trunks?"

"In a safe location, I left them on Namek about a week ago. I heard about Frieza's new plan and rushed back here. I assume you read the note?"

"Yeah, along with all the bodies," I chuckled.

"Frieza sent some goons after the hijacker of a expensive battleship that made an emergency landing on Vegita, that is all you know. So have you told Bardock about the plan to blow up the planet? I was hoping such information would be kept under wraps no matter how whipped that female had you!" he said with a smirk to my long face.

"Not really, I kinda had to tell them about where we came from, and for good reason, something I definitely need to speak to you about. But I didn't say anything about Frieza blowing up the planet!"

"All right, give me a moment to launch Kakarot's pod. I have already entered it into the computer as a scheduled launch," Vegeta said, pushing a big red button over the five controls. The pod closed and lifted out of the room, and a roar went by my ears.

"Now that that is taken care of, what is it that is super important to tell me?" _And here I thought this would be hard. _

I sighed and took a deep breath, starting from basically where it would be blown out of proportion, "We found Zerg on Kanassa."

**-**

Vegeta had countless questions at first, so I told him the whole thing from start to finish, ended with when I came to get Goku out of there.

"So, the timeline has been altered more than I thought possible, and it seems your mystic power attracted the Zerg to Earth and to Kanassa, with this, Psi energy. Though I would have thought the Kanassan to be just speaking garbage to you, his story fits. The Zerg went after you and you were drawn to them. The story matches with the fact that we can't sense them well. I am glad to hear that you recalled some of the Zerg types, which makes our mission later easier. All right, the plan remains the same; I will meet you on Meat about two hours after your scheduled to land. I know the fight against Frieza won't take you that long, but knowing myself as well as I do, I would fight before any of my comrades, and foolishly would die before letting another step in for me. As your teacher and mentor, I order you not to interfere with that unless I un-characteristically ask you to, and only then. If the other me dies, then so be it, it's a pride thing. And I wouldn't want to deal with the mess of him seeing me. Whatever you do though, keep Bardock and his crew alive. They are like Kakarot; able to increase their strength greatly even though they are low class, and judging by what you have said, they have already fought the Zerg. That will prove to be useful experience for the invasion. Get going boy, not a word to Bardock or the crew until you reach Meat, I'll meet you there!" Vegeta said, pointing to the door.

I nodded and exited, somewhat happy that I had gotten to tell him everything before the curtain fell, and that I succeeded in getting Goku to earth. Walking out, I caught a glimpse of a small craft just blasting off; the ki signal inside it told me what I wanted to know. I smiled and walked back to the dorms, trying to enjoy the night sky of Vegita. I stopped at a building near the barracks and looked up in admiration, the stars shown brightly, perhaps the calm before the storm. I continued gazing at it, shutting off all cares. This turned out to be a mistake, because a hand reached out and grabbed me from behind and put a gloved hand over my face. At first I was ready to throw whoever it was off, except the hand was covered in intoxicating fumes. I immediately started making me black out like I was smelling chloroform, and another hand grabbed my tail. The hand on the tail squeezed hard, and I yelped slightly, but was still not paralyzed even as the chemical fumes worked their magic and put me under. Then I started being dragged off, whoever was behind me either felt extremely brave in this act, or very foolish and had gotten lucky.

**-**

I woke up strapped to a tableby large and heavy metal clamps. I had a monster of a headache; whatever had put me under was still going strong. _Ugh, whoever did this is about to have a nasty wake up call, but I'll play along for the information._

"Look, he's up!" a feminine voice said. I looked over to see a large woman among a pack of Saiyan females looking at me lustfully. All of them were dressed in pink colored uniforms, except now they had taken their armor off, adding to the scene. It had to be Clerpe, the large and somehow attractive figure matched, and she was dripping with the smell of a perfume like substance, only greater in impact. I could barely think of anything else except what my pounding heart told me.

"Well, my mate awakes! Tonight is your night little man, for you get the whole package! Countless beautiful women to screw and a soon to be conceived child!" she announced.

"I don't want you, and if you think kidnapping me is going to get you anywhere you are dead wrong!" I shouted, snapping the clamps with a flex. A hand grabbed my tail again, but this time rubbed it gently like Fasha had before, and that rendered me truly helpless. The feeling of pleasure made my body shut down much like paralysis would, without the pain.

"Let go!" I urged.

"Poor little man always forgets that we women have them by the tail all time, now you won't resist will you?" Clerpe said as she came closer, sticking her huge face in front of my own and forcing her lips over my own. I managed to turn my head slightly to the side before spitting towards her face as she pulled back. She moved her head aside to miss the flying saliva, but didn't look overly happy at my antics.

"Girls, I think he needs some more convincing!" And just like that a dozen hands were on me, running across me in random locations, and a few down below my bodysuit where I deemed a no zone. Inside though, I was fighting my own instincts. Anyone else would have given in at this point, but I just knew I couldn't let that happen.

"Stop, this isn't right! This can't happen," I whispered while making no movement to stop it.

"Oh but it is, I need a man around to keep me satisfied and I have selected you. However, since you resisted me and didn't allow me to mark you as mine, I had to resort to this. This will go a lot smoother now!" Clerpe said, her hand running down the center of my chest and then down even further. I had to admit, it did feel good, but I didn't let it cloud the issue too much. _Damn, Vegeta and Fasha were right, I'm helpless around women. There's got to be a way out of this, I wonder if I were to play along, to an extent._

"You're a first timer aren't you? This will be quite fun, but we need to get the formalities out of the way! Now little man, bite me and fulfill your destiny!" she leaned forward, lips parting to give me a sloppy kiss on the lips. _Bite her? That's a ritual? I think I'm gonna be sick! Then again that would explain the nasty looking scar on Mom's neck._ I had seen another on the back of Vegeta's neck also, but it was rather small. _Sure would have helped if I knew some of this disgusting crap ahead of time._

"No, I refuse, now let me go!" I ordered.

That stopped her dead in her tracks, but only for a moment, "Ladies, leave, it seems I have to persuade him myself!" She grabbed my tail now and stroked it vigorously, climbing atop and straddling me, and for a few moments, the offer tempted me.

"No, you can't claim me if I refuse!" I shouted and struggled, but my body wouldn't respond to my commands.

"That is true little one, but then you're in no position to refuse me. Just do it and live in pleasure for the rest of your life. I, guarantee what your feeling now will pale in comparison to what I will give you at a moments notice!" _This tail rubbing is getting ridiculous, and why haven't I passed out from the pleasure yet? Unless this is more like a mating ritual that keeps you awake. So much for it being the same as sex. I've gotta turn the tables on this bitch, I wonder if I._ I stopped and grinned slightly without her seeing me. The thought that just flashed through my head was degrading, disgusting, and I just plain didn't want it to happen, but she would let go of my tail and I would get out of this mess. I took a deep breath and relaxed a bit more, something nearly impossible at this point. I shot her a smirk and squirmed a bit under her mass that was lying on top of me. _Boy if anyone walks in on this it's going to look really bad._

"I'm a bit new at this, so let me get this straight. I have to bite you and let you bite me, then conjugate the joining by screwing each other's brains out. Is that it? Okay, but I have my own ritual I want to try first!"

"And what is that little lover?" she cooed.

"My, father, told me long ago that the way to give a woman ultimate pleasure involved a tongue and not the teeth," I began, almost gagging as I did. Her eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning, and her brown tail was in my face right away just as her bodysuit dropped to the ground. It wasn't exactly the body part I was expecting right away, but it would put my plan into action easily. _This is not going to be my favorite part of this, that is for sure. But it'll work if she's like any other woman._ So as she swished her tail to my mouth, I complied with what I had just promised, wanting to gag myself at this point. Even Goten and Goku would argue that this tasted horrible. Well I suppose it didn't taste that bad, but in the moment when I had no desire for her what so ever, you have to picture it as the most revolting thing you've ever done. She began to moan and groan slightly, her grip on my tail started to slip. She moved up and down and around just as expected, and her hand slipped completely from my tail within a few seconds. I waited for just a moment when the bulk of her tail passed between my teeth. Then I clamped down on her, drawing blood. She screamed in pain before paralysis hit her and she ceased moving, mumbling slightly.

"Well, you did want me to bite you, sorry it wasn't on the neck. I can't afford to have a mate right now. No hard feelings, maybe if you weren't such a bitch to me before I would consider it. Goodbye Clerpe, live the rest of your life in peace," I said softly, spitting the tail blood from my mouth, getting up and heading for the door. I kept trying to spit tail hair from my mouth as well, my stomach wanted to empty itself as well, but I'm pretty sure all of the food I ate earlier was gone.

She was up quickly, breathing hard, "Why you horrible little man, no one says no to me, NO ONE!"

"I just did, live with it," I said a little sterner now as I opened the door. She stomped towards me, making the room shake slightly. I felt her ki go up slightly, emitting nothing but anger. Despite her anger and her size, she still looked very attractive. Not having any clothes on helped in that department, but that didn't change my mind any.

"You will be mine even if it kills you damnit!" she claimed.

"Do not come any closer," I warned, holding up a hand. She answered by charging at me, a murderous look in her eye. My Saiyan instincts didn't even hesitate, and I fired. Thankfully my human mind was still in place, and I only hit her legs with a weak ki beam. Strong enough though to stop her for the moment, even I wasn't that cruel.

"How could you?" she screeched, not being able to get up for at least a few minutes. She started crying softly for a moment or two then, and I almost felt sorry for her. With the current situation though, I did not show it.

"Good question coming from you. Just grab the man you want, try to rape him and make him mate unwillingly. Some wife you would have made, we would have ended up with some very confused kids, guaranteed. Maybe you should actually wait for the man to come to you instead of forcing yourself on those smaller and weaker than you. I don't care if they like it or not, that doesn't make it right. Think about that one Clerpe, think about it hard!" I shouted before leaving and slamming the door, cracking the walls.

**-**

"Where were you?" Fasha asked, seeing my slightly more torn up clothes, and then wrinkling her nose slightly when I passed by her and sat on the edge of her bed.

"Mate shopping?" she asked.

"More like your friendly neighborhood bitch trying to rape someone," I muttered, sitting down and explaining what just happened, in full detail. Fasha looked slightly surprised that Clerpe did this, as according to her, she would be put to death for trying something like that as forcing yourself upon a member of any sex was forbidden on Vegita.

"Should we alert the authorities then?" she asked with slight concern.

"No, I think she learned her lesson, and we'll be gone in the morning anyway. It's not worth the effort," I said, not noticing that Fasha had scooted a bit closer in her bed.

"Well, you do smell pretty good though, she lathered you up with pheromones to drive the opposite sex crazy. I'd say the stuff works pretty well," she started with a finger down my arm. _Great, now her too._

"No Fasha, you know I can't mate," I said, shoving her hand away.

"Who said anything about mating? What I had in mind is not mating, even though it goes along with it, but I'd say you do need a good relaxing night before the mission tomorrow. Don't worry, I told you this happens all the time, we just don't go all the way with it! You know, you remind me of Bardock when he was on this team for the first time. We had three females then, a male captain and Bardock, now that made for some really interesting nights!" she said, unfolding my shirt that was already half way off.

"Time to live a little, before you have to be a smaller shrimp again!" she grinned and tossed my bodysuit aside, and hers a minute later. This time, I just couldn't manage to say no, her eyes were just so perfect.

**Interlude 17.1 –Bulma and Goku-**

Bulma wiped her brow and patted her stomach that was quite a bit larger than normal now. She had been working tirelessly on the broken time machine, but still, nothing wanted to work correctly. Her stomach growled, signs that the baby was definitely getting bigger; Trunks had been this way when she was pregnant the last time. It had been two and a half months since the accident, and it still weighed heavily on her. They had another few weeks before they would call the dragon and wish Vegeta and the boys back to this dimension. It wasn't the original place, but it would have to do. Videl's pregnancy came just a month and a half after her own, meaning the children would grow up together, something Bulma was happy to know. She couldn't stop worrying about where Vegeta and the boys ended up. She didn't have a doubt about their ability to take care of themselves; no one at that time would be able to overpower them. But considering Verto had just gone from child to nearly mature concerned her quite a bit, no matter how he appeared to adjust to it. _Oh why do I have this feeling that Verto is having to become more of a man while he's stuck on a planet full of Saiyans, just for his own sanity no doubt. _

Vegeta had always spoken highly of the boy when it came to training and fighting, but did not approve of his more pacifist attitude, especially when it came to women. Bulma chuckled; her adoptive son had always been the nicest to ladies, while Trunks and Goten did what they could to get rid of them. The only exception was that android twenty-one that Gero had made, the boys mentioned that she was the only one he had been extremely rude to. Granted he was that way a lot sometimes, but generally he kept his bad side to himself unlike Vegeta. The kid was nicer in her opinion than he would take credit for. _Hell I wouldn't be surprised if he was having sex with a Saiyan girl as we speak, and bringing home a mate, boy wouldn't that screw things up._ Bulma chuckled slightly, never knowing how close she was to being correct.

"How's the machine coming?" Goku asked, startling his friend in the process as he teleported in.

"It's not! The damn temporal circuits keep overloading and shorting out on me. Hell I can't figure out what's missing from it. If only the other Trunks was here, maybe I could get this figured out. Looks like we'll need to use the dragonballs after all," she said, frustrated.

"So, can you fix it?" Goku asked, clueless. Bulma sighed, almost expecting this answer.

"Eventually, but a lot of the parts came from the original time machine. Duplicating those exact schematics is hard work Goku," she said with a slight scowl.

"Oh, ok. Hey can we find out if the Zerg are getting close yet?" he asked with interest.

"I took a deep scan of the skies with my satellites earlier today, nothing was out there. But I can't search much further than the edge of our solar system for anything other than stars, planets or comets moving around. They could feasibly get here too fast to do much preparation for them," she explained thoroughly.

"I see, well let me know if you see anything out there, bye Bulma!" Goku waved as he teleported out.

"I hope Vegeta and the boys get back soon. I would hate to see them come back too late to stop the Zerg.

-

I awoke in the middle of the night, with Fasha sleeping next to me with our tails intertwined. _Oh crap, tell me I didn't do it!_ I felt all along my neck and shoulders for bite marks, and found none. _Whew, bad enough that I allowed myself to get sucked in like that, nice girl or not._ I glanced down and checked Fasha's neck and shoulders over as well, just to be sure. I found no bite mark there either, and I relaxed with that thought.

"You shouldn't panic like that in the middle of the night, you didn't do anything I wouldn't have!" Bardock whispered from the door.

I looked around, alarmed. "Don't panic kid, I knew Fasha had a thing for you just as she has a thing for me, but she isn't going to go all the way. You have to understand; we Saiyans don't consider basic sex a sign of mate hood like any other race does. She's done this with every member of this crew for the entire time I've known her. Its like final initiation that we have, she got it from the other females that have been on the crew. It's for your own good anyway at your age, get some of that hormonal strain off before it consumes you. Besides, its illegal to mate with your crewmates, but basic sex is okay. Anyway, good night kid, don't do anything I wouldn't do. Too late now isn't it, Hahahaha!" Bardock laughed a little loudly.

"Why are you telling me all this?" I whispered in a loud enough tone for him to hear.

"Because confusion is written all over your face. Not to mention it looks like you had your hands in the meat jar with that look of panic, goodnight," he said, walking off towards his room. Fasha pulled me a little closer to her, a slight smile could be seen on her face even in the dark. _How do I do it?_ I blushed myself to sleep a few minutes later.


	19. Crushing Revenge

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**A/n: Okay, I gave the hopeless romantics some attention, now were going to turn up some of the violence. This one gets a little messy.**

**Chapter 18: Crushing Revenge**

"Beep Beep, wake up Verto," the computer said. It roused me from cold sleep slowly, and I wiped my eyes. Up ahead I saw a pretty shitty looking brown and red planet, nothing a pack of strong fighters would want to live at. I glanced over to see eight other pods around my own in the blackness of space. I slowly remembered what was going on, and realized that the prince, Nappa and Raditz had opted to travel with us. _Well here we go_. I sighed and stretched, watching the pod start to burn through the atmosphere, making it shake a bit. The ground zoomed up quickly for me most undesirable part of any trip, the landing. I got out of the smoking pod, careful not to touch the metal, for it radiated a lot of heat. The others were getting out as well, and met me atop the craters in a group behind the prince. Then I took in the surroundings, or what should have been. The land was covered in blast craters, and random bodies lay everywhere, in strange alien shapes.

"Uh Bardock, weren't there supposed to be people here?" Tora asked.

A small smirk opened up on Bardock's face, one that I wasn't too fond of, "Well, seems someone saved us the trouble already." Eight hands went to their scouters to find any trace of life. I didn't bother, I was already picking up the ki reading, and I knew exactly who it was. _So, Frieza did show after all, that freak is finally gonna get what he deserves!_

"Something is jamming the signal, but there is something coming from about fifteen miles in that direction!" Raditz pointed out.

"Then we go there!" the young Vegeta said, lifting into the air, his cape billowing out as his aura went off for flight. The rest of us did the same, though I was a bit hesitant about showing it off. So I hung back for a few seconds, making sure I had a good grip on my suppression. Suppressed power or not, this was not going to be the most joyful thing I had ever done. If anything it was like another one of Vegeta's tests. But staying out of the battle until his younger self was dead when I could wipe out the enemy in no time, it just didn't fit. The whole possibility of a time paradox with two Vegeta's meeting did present a potential problem though, and eased my conscience just slightly. The young prince himself seemed to be in a bit of a hurry, and some of us had trouble catching up, that being Raditz and Fasha, who hung back towards me. Raditz seemed to be the weariest one of the group, not to mention the weakest. His level was down to where it should be, around one thousand or so, and at his age of about fourteen, that was considered second class. According to his birth record it should have been higher. He was working with both his prince and his father at the same time, so nervousness really poured out of him, which might have kept his power down a bit.

Fasha kept looking over at me though, "Kid, are you getting the bad feeling about this that I am?"

"Yeah you could say that," I said, keeping my eyes forward. After a few minutes of silent flight, we arrived at the location Vegeta pointed out. It was quiet as a tomb with no scouter picking up anything. I felt a ki flare behind us, very far back, somewhere around the pods! I scowled as I sensed a notable ki signal blazing our way from the pods; no doubt one of Frieza's lackeys had blown them up.

"What is it?" young Vegeta asked, noticing my distress.

"I think the space pods just got blown up," I said solemnly. This caused several questions to be asked at once, but Vegeta answered them all by using his scouter to try to contact his own pod. When nothing came back to him, he feared the worst. This caused everyone to light up in surprise, but that didn't last long, because the scouters started going off just as a new set of ki signals arrived. We turned to see the big pink freak Dodoria along with a small group of elites with them as well. And behind them sat Frieza in his big chair, looking quite pleased with himself. Frieza's ship was landing a short distance away, but no one came out.

"Gentlemen, its about time! We were starting to worry, Muhahahaha!" Frieza started to laugh along with his cronies.

"Frieza, what are you doing here?" Vegeta asked.

"Let's just say I've come to exterminate vermin, namely you Saiyans!"

"What?" Vegeta yelled.

"Did your feeble monkey ears miss that? I said that your time of life is over! The rest of your kind is already gone, and now it's down to you nine pieces of trash!" Frieza declared. I sensed Zarbon flying in from behind us; he had probably been the one to destroy the pods as he landed next to Dodoria.

"What are you saying you purple headed freak?" Nappa shouted, disregarding his so called place with Frieza now.

"How many times do I have to say it before you listen? I said I just blew up the whole monkey farm! Planet Vegita is gone!" Frieza laughed sadistically. I scowled and glared at him, the rest of the group did so, but were struggling not to launch at him and crush his skull.

"And now you're here for us, with so few men to wipe us out? I have no intention of going with out a fight!" Vegeta shouted, tossing his orange cape off. Nappa and Raditz jumped up next to him with rage pouring off them.

"No, I will fight them first! Only when I die will you join the battle!" the young prince declared, starting to power up. _Well Vegeta hit that flaw in his pride right on the nail. _

A blue and white aura surrounded him, similar to the one I had seen before; only this one was a bit more erratic. I felt his ki just about double in strength, making his level about twelve thousand or so. He could beat the elites easy, but Zarbon and Dodoria would beat him down, never mind Frieza. Nappa and Raditz backed off as the prince charged forward, being met by the elite group. There were only four elites in the group, and no doubt their scouters were giving them something to think about. Vegeta punched the first one in the face, breaking most of the bones and sending a vial's worth of blood into the air. He growled in rage and backhanded the next one in the gut, his fist plowed right through the second elite. He blasted the first one into nothing a half second later. The third and fourth backed off slightly, trying to rethink their strategy. Then they flew up into the air, blasting ki waves down onto Vegeta. I sensed he was barely hit at all, but the huge wall of smoke that went up blocked both elites view, who were now across from each other. I sensed Vegeta soar upwards and grab the first one into a full nelson, breaking his neck quickly. The smoke cleared just a tad and the other elite saw this and fired. Vegeta saw it coming and dodged easily as the blast obliterating the other elite. Vegeta swooped over and double arm smashed the last elite, before shooting him with a strong blast, killing him off for good.

He landed and stared down Zarbon and Dodoria, who were presently trying to decide who was going to fight. After a few minutes of bickering, Frieza snapped up and ordered Dodoria to do it. The pink buffoon pumped his arms sideways in a stretch, ready to pound Vegeta. Vegeta wasn't going quietly, if I knew him, and I did, he would go out with a bang. Dodoria flew towards Vegeta with a simple fist outstretched. The Saiyan prince didn't wait for that to hit and phased out just as the punch arrived, only to reappear and kick him in the back, making him bounce off the ground. Zarbon suddenly appeared in front of us, his green hair swished around his head.

"This doesn't have to be a private party, in fact I think we should spice it up!" Zarbon began by kicking Nappa harshly in the chest, sending him to the ground in pain. Raditz didn't wait around anymore and foolishly charged at Zarbon, who grabbed the punch and broke his wrist easily. Then he held out his palm below Raditz chin, before blasting an instant later. The look of shock on Bardock's face rivaled Goku's own when Frieza killed Krillin.

"RADITZ!" he shouted in terror before snarling, "You will pay for that!"

"Make me pay then, monkey! None of you can beat me!" Bardock charged Zarbon, getting kicked into the air for his efforts. Tora and Shugesh jumped into the air and followed. Borgos and Fasha also jumped in right away, and all of them attacked Zarbon, giving Bardock enough time to start charging a Power Ball. When he launched it into the sky, Frieza blew it up an instant later.

"Up to the same old tricks, you're not pulling that off today Saiyans!" he said, shaking a finger at us. I kept my hard stare on Frieza while watching the others. The cocky freak didn't have a chance against me, but I still didn't want to be caught off guard. I saw Dodoria finally get a good hit on Vegeta, before pummeling the Saiyan prince for all he was worth. I sensed a serious drop in Vegeta's ki and a spark of anger ignited. My power suppression started to falter, something Frieza did not notice, as he was too busy enjoying his goons beating on the Saiyans. The only thing keeping me from blasting them all to death was Vegeta's pride and respect, drilled and often beaten into me while in the time chamber. He didn't want me to fight just like his younger self didn't, and it kept me from even moving. Zarbon was holding all five of the crew off, occasionally six when Nappa joined in. I had to hand it to him, even outnumbered he could hold himself against a people that were half or less of his own power.

Dodoria was enjoying himself, pounding Vegeta into the dirt, then picking him up and throwing him into the air and sending him down again in repeated acts of brutality. Each time a blow was landed on the Saiyans, my anger rose. Soon thereafter my aura appeared just out of angry ki, despite my efforts to calm down. Zarbon then got Nappa knocked down and out, followed by Shugesh and Borgos an instant later. Tora and Bardock continued to try, only to get knocked away, but not giving Zarbon enough time to recover. Bardock fired a few more Power Balls, but Frieza destroyed all of them before they could do any good. Fasha picked herself up and flew back over to me, standing in front of me and blocking my death glare at Frieza before I noticed her.

"Are you going to do something or not, you can wipe the floor with these goons!"

"Vegeta ordered me not to interfere until he was dead or the situation called for it. The risk of those two meeting each other is too much to chance. I respect his wishes and know how much of a blow to his pride it would be if I jumped in for him, as much as it hurts me to stand here!" I said.

"But he's going to get killed for sure!" Fasha screamed at me.

"Yeah, I-I know," I choked back a tear as I looked away for a moment. A few ki explosions went off, Tora and Bardock fell from the skies and landed hard, ki dropping to barely awake.

"Now your luck has run out monkeys!" Zarbon grinned. _Okay, I must keep them alive, now I will do something!_ I turned to blast into the path of Zarbon's next beam. It never came, because a loud shout from Nappa announced his arrival as he rammed into Zarbon, knocking the pretty boy's scouter off and leaving a trail of blood from his mouth. Zarbon recovered quickly and rushed up to knee Nappa in the stomach harshly, who's face then turned to shocked agony.

Zarbon's hand appeared at his neckline, "Goodbye Saiyan!" A half second later Nappa's head was missing, and in a truly gruesome sight, we saw the head bounce off the ground and it landed right in front of my feet. Something inside me snapped, even though I had never known Nappa and never seen him in person except a few times, I knew this could not go without a response.

"Fasha, take this and get the others out of here! There are five beans inside, give everyone one, including yourself, they will heal you. Go now, before I lose it," I whispered, dead serious as I handed here the capsule. A cry of pain reached my ears and I snapped my head up to see Dodoria holding Vegeta by the tail and swinging him around above his head. He gave him the toss as I watched, laughing slightly when he saw my face. I shuddered in anger and stepped forward.

"That's enough!" I shouted. I didn't care about pride now, the beast inside of me was tired of listening to rational thought or Vegeta's orders. My aura was now coming out in smoky streaks, much like Buu did when he blew his top.

"Oh and what will you do, boy? Sure you're strong for your age, but if prince Vegeta can't do anything to us, you truly have no chance!" Zarbon chuckled in his fruity sounding voice. Dodoria laughed some more before turning back to Vegeta, who wasn't moving much. I could sense that his ki was nearly gone.

"Zarbon, just get the job done, quit monkeying around! Hahahaha, monkeying around, Hahahaha!" Frieza's sick voice rang in my ears loud and clear, pushing me past the breaking point.

"Say goodbye brat!" Zarbon shouted, jumping in front of me and kicking my side. I didn't even flinch, more like a feather had touched my armor, and my eyes stayed locked on Dodoria's actions. He puffed up a bit in the cheeks before firing his patented mouth beam at Vegeta, hitting dead on, and finishing him off for good. His armor was shredded off, and he fell to the ground again, his tail limp and his body unmoving. I searched for any possible ki that was left, but only found emptiness. _No._ As Vegeta's fire died, mine erupted in a blaze. My silver aura filled with light and tore away at the ground around my feet, sending Zarbon flying away just from the force. But I hadn't even gotten started yet. I had followed Vegeta's orders and kept my power back, now that he was gone, they were going to pay with their lives. The Saiyan beast inside me came roaring to life with my anguished scream, Dodoria and Zarbon's scouters shattered an instant later. Frieza didn't have one on, so he was merely curious.

"What did your scouter say Zarbon?" he asked.

"No way, impossible, the scouter read three hundred and ninety thousand when it was destroyed! But the boy only had a power of fifty-eight hundred! That isn't possible even with the moon!" Dodoria claimed. I ignored the astonishment between the goons, dropping all restraints and letting my power flow once again, back to where it should have been. My aura dropped when I was done releasing my hidden ki, getting up to about one quarter of my full power. It calmed me slightly, but I was still very pissed off at the bunch.

"Go and beat him down like the monkey he is! I'm sure your scouters were malfunctioning anyway!" Frieza smirked and laughed. I sensed Fasha and Bardock's ki go back up to normal, meaning she was using the beans, the others were revived a minute later and all had flown to watch the battle I was about to start.

**-**

"C'mon kid, let's dance!" Dodoria grinned and charged towards me full speed. He reached out to punch my face, but pulled his arm back right away, because I had just snatched it out of the air and broken it with a knife hand chop before he could even notice it.

"How in the hell did you do that?" he screamed at me while holding his hurt arm.

"I get my exercise on beating up pumped up muscle heads like yourself," I scowled before kicking his leg, breaking it on contact as well. He fell to the ground in pain, the broken arm was suddenly forgotten because of the new leg injury.

"You know, if I do this, then you'll forget about your leg!" I said, stomping on his opposite foot. He screamed like a baby and held his now crushed foot.

"Stop screaming, you pathetic worm! Or I'll blow your head off next and end your miserable life now!" I shouted at him. Dodoria complied and just whimpered a bit, before I kicked him in the side slightly. I jumped and laid into his back with a few kicks, leaving quite an impact as his armor shattered. His ki dropped more, but the pain was keeping him awake. I rolled him back over, and saw that he wasn't screaming anymore, because he probably couldn't feel the pain now.

I spit on him with disgust, "Now with your last pitiful minutes, watch what you were up against!" I shouted at his face before phasing over to Zarbon, who stood frozen in fear.

He scowled slightly, "I must admit, your power and skills are much higher than I expected, but it's not good enough! Are you up to the challenge of fighting me next?"

I stood my ground, unfazed by his speech, "Will you hurry and power up so I can show you how fruitless this is?" I shouted. Zarbon gasped, but didn't answer and soon his form bulged in size, turning him into a scaly beast with more mass and a bit more power. He shot a purple blast at me first, one that was easy to dodge. He tried to reappear above me and kick me into the ground, but I had already caught his kick before he sent it, throwing him instead into the ground. Then I landed on his back with some speed, shattering his spine and thus crippling him from even moving without my say so. I picked him up by the armor and tossed him over to where Dodoria was. I now turned my attention to Frieza, who was smiling wickedly at the situation. Despite what Dodoria had just done, his boss was the one I wanted.

"Yes, a rare match indeed, one that requires my awesome power to win. I will enjoy beating the life out of you and your friends, just as I did King Vegeta!" he said. I cocked an eyebrow at him before staring at the ground longer. I felt slightly guilty about not killing him back on Treme.

"Oh yes, I personally killed that worthless pile of trash before I blew up the planet! Hell, his son had more potential than he ever did, and look what happened to him!" Frieza claimed, apparently was trying to get me riled up before we fought, to make my fighting sloppy. What he didn't know was that it was going to take about fifty million copies of himself to pull that off and even be effective.

"You, young Saiyan, also have great potential! But, you don't even compare to me. The power of my left arm is more than you possess in your entire body! So to be fair, I will only fight you with my left arm! Now that we have that straight, let's get down to business!" He grinned and put one arm behind his back.

"Suit yourself you fool, but you're gonna need everything you've got to survive this battle, and that is impossible as it is!" I said as I charged slowly at him. He was more than ready, and deep down I wanted to mess around with this freak and make him suffer just a bit. I walked right up to him and glared him down nearly nose-to-nose. He apparently didn't like this, and he used his left arm to grab mine and squeeze for all he could. When he did, his fingernails broke against my skin, and he started to struggle with it.

"What's wrong Frieza, under a little pressure?" I asked, snatching my arm away and punching his stomach a little more than harshly.

He doubled over in pain, face full of shock, "But how?"

"You should have kept a better eye on me, and then you would know. But I'd guess that I'm a two to three hundred times more powerful than you in our current state, and that is only the beginning," I smirked, kicking him in the same spot. His ki dropped to about half of what it was, he had made the mistake of not powering up at all.

"I know you're confused Frieza, and you're not sure how to continue. Let me make it easier. There my back is turned, is that better, isn't that how you like to work?" I asked while turning around. Frieza was still gathering himself to realize this, but then I heard him laugh.

"Big mistake, SAIYAN!" he yelled, grabbing my sensitive tail and squeezing it. I'll be the first to admit, it hurt even if a normal human grabbed my tail, never mind now, but it didn't get the result Frieza was looking for. I back kicked the alien, clocking him in the jaw with my boot. He let go abruptly and stood with a priceless shock on his face, with a few broken teeth sticking out from his mouth.

"That's it Saiyan, you're dead!" he shouted once he came to. He rose into the air with his finger outstretched, gathering massive ki. Soon his large and orange death ball appeared and grew really big.

"Now die with this planet!" He tossed it directly at me and the planet of Meat. It approached slowly, and gave me more than enough time to knock it back at him. His eyes lit up in surprise when I did, but he jumped out of the way and watched his ball go into space. I took the advantage of distraction and rushed up to nab him by the horns. I hurled the alien higher into the air, phasing out and reappearing in his path. I promptly punched his head and sent him back down to the surface. He hit the ground with a nasty thud and his armor came up torn. I flew down soon after hitting him, landing about six feet away.

But he wore a bright smile, "Interesting, I finally have the honor of fighting a true Saiyan and have to transform to win!"

"Go ahead, but it won't do you any good to simply double your current power. I could beat you at your maximum without breaking a sweat!"

"No way, that is impossible! No one can fathom my full power! You lie boy!" Frieza spat at the ground.

"Maybe, but I guess you're not going to find out, your time ends now!" I yelled, charging ahead. I came up to Frieza faster than he could react, and took his legs out from under him, smashing him into the ground again with doubled up fists.

"You, you freak, you must be a Super Saiyan, aren't you?"

I smirked slightly, "I'm a bit more than that!"

"Let me transform so you can test your powers then! Surely you're up to the challenge! You're a Saiyan after all, with wonderful skills!" he grinned.

"I could, but your final form is nothing special! I'll be up to the challenge when there is one, it isn't you. I'm going to kill you!" I yelled, stomping a foot into his midsection, breaking the worn out skin and pushing my boot into his insides. He lost consciousness then, the pain was too great for him. I held no shame or pity for what I had done to the group. I had crippled them beyond belief, but inside I knew if I let these three live, then this new reality could not live in peace. I shot a small ki blast at Frieza's neck, separating it from the body and destroying the head. The remaining body then fluxed out of control without a brain to instruct it, and I finished it off with the next blast. I noted several small ki signals scrambling around in the ship behind me, none of which I knew to be familiar. I blasted it and them to dust a second later as chunks of the spaceship came raining down around me. I spat on the ashes of Frieza and walked back to where the crew was landing. No one dared say a word to me, as they were still not believing what happened, even though I had told them that I could take him out easily.

**-**

"Wow kid, I mean unbelievable! I always thought he couldn't be beaten, but you just did and, oh wow!" Shugesh said first. Random excited comments escaped their mouths as I walked up to them. They all looked slightly scared of me, and I suppose I couldn't blame them at this point. My senses picked up on something from far away, but above us. The ki from it flared once, high enough for me to recognize it as I looked up.

I smiled and looked back down, "Prepare to leave, our ride is here," I said, walking in the other direction.

"Where you going kid?" Bardock asked as the ship started to land nearby.

"I'm not done yet!" I called back, before scowling again and walking forward. Up ahead of me, Zarbon and Dodoria were attempting to hide under rocks that they could barely move.

"Oh crap Dodoria, he's coming back!" Zarbon panicked.

"No kidding you green gak faced idiot!" the pink beast shouted back.

"You didn't actually think I'd forget about you two, did you?" I asked. My inner beast wanted to kill them, and I stopped holding it back. These two would only cause more pain, and from what they had done earlier, mostly Dodoria, I had something quite terrible in mind. I held up my finger and shot a ki beam directly at Zarbon's eye, piercing it and watching it go through his head and out the back, killing him instantly. Dodoria saw this and attempted to get on his knees.

"Please forgive me, I'll do whatever you want. I'll become your slave, just don't kill me!"

I stopped and smiled evilly, "Anything I want huh? Okay, commit suicide!"

"Huh?" he asked, stunned.

I frowned deeply, "You heard me, kill yourself, blow yourself up from the inside using your ki. If I were you, I would, just to atone for all the lives you destroyed. You disgust me, and your kind will cease to be as long as I am around! Do it, or die anyway!" Dodoria obviously had trouble following this order, for two reasons. First, he didn't have hardly any ki to do it with, and two, he was dead either way. He gave up quickly and refused, then I kicked him in the head, sending him back into the dirt. The raging beast called me to do something horrific for his death, he had killed Vegeta. True it wasn't the same Vegeta I personally knew and looked upon in admiration, but the effect was the same. I bent down and punched a hole into his chest, around his heart. Then I grabbed his heart muscle with my hand and ripped it out as it was still beating and pumping the blood left inside of it. Dodoria died right then, no sound came from him at all. I held the heart high into the air, before uttering a loud snarl and squeezing the oddly shaped heart until it exploded. Then I threw the squashed heart down and snarled at the sky again, only this time much louder than my vocal cords should have been able to handle, similar to the way I growled while in ape form. Satisfied, I walked back to the group, wiping a bit of the blood off my face. It was only then that I grimaced at what I had just done, I was sick with myself over it already, rather he deserved it or not. _Why the hell did I just do that anyway? _

**-**

Vegeta was already out of the ship when I came back, adult Vegeta that is. Bardock and the others had bowed at first, but he told them to stand, the whole time he was sending a smirk my way. When I arrived, I wasn't sure if to feel ashamed for what I just did to all three of those goons or not. I didn't have a real issue with what I did to Frieza and Zarbon, but Dodoria was just something else altogether.

"Well boy, seems that this trip was good for you, you really are a Saiyan at heart. I really didn't think you could do it!"

I looked at him strange, "Do what?"

"That's right, I never explained it. It's kind of like a connection between you and myself, but unlike the warrior's bond, the trainer's bond doesn't fulfill itself all the time, and it has fewer properties than any other bond. I knew this bond had formed between us, as it does with everyone, you have fulfilled it however. That doesn't happen often," Vegeta said, still smirking.

"Oh, so you are his teacher after all, that explains what we just saw," Bardock commented.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"Well, the pink lamebrain over there killed the other me right? In Saiyan mythology, if an enemy kills the teacher, the pupil will rise up to fight and defeat that enemy. You just fulfilled the final act so to speak, ripping the enemy's heart out and crushing it in your own hand while. No doubt you even tasted some of that blood and you enjoyed every second of it, is that correct boy?" he beamed at me now.

"Yeah," I said, looking down slightly.

"Good, this trip wasn't a complete waste of time then!"

I hit quick realization with those words, "What do you mean by that? Did you plan all of this?"

"Sort of, I programmed the codes for planet Vegita into the chamber while you were with the Satan girl that night we encountered the Zerg. I even let Trunks watch me type in the code for the point of entry in the timeline. That's how he learned it; I planned this trip without anyone else knowing after you turned older. I wanted you to see our race for what it was, go on missions like I did in old times, and maybe even pick up a mate for later times. I see you and that girl over there are a bit close, and yes I planned this all out to an extent. I knew I could count on the boys to screw up the machine. The whole thing with Frieza and the Zerg were not my doing however," Vegeta laughed a bit before going back to his usual scowl.

"Any other reasons behind this?" I asked sternly.

"Humph, well I did gather up that pack of females for you. I wanted to see if you could resist them since you can't seem to resist just one!" he frowned as Fasha and I blushed at the same time.

"So what now, sire?" Bardock asked in respect.

"We go to Namek, there is something to take care of there. Then I request you five to come with us to our dimension, to fight the Zerg, will you accept?" Vegeta asked, not ordered.

"As long as we can return here," Bardock answered, sounding a bit confused at the whole ordeal.

"That will not be a problem, my woman can handle that," Vegeta smirked.

"Then we accept, and are honored to serve you again sire!"

"Good, now let's get going! We have to get to Namek before Kold realizes what happened here. Suppress your power again boy!" Vegeta ordered, walking up the ramp. I reburied my ki just as he ordered it, knowing full well that King Kold probably would figure out what occurred if I didn't. We followed inside slowly, the ship was a replica of Frieza's and armored guards littered the floor, all dead.

Vegeta went down the hall, before pointing at a room, "Freshen yourselves up!" Bardock opened the door as Vegeta walked off, and it was a laundry room full of bodysuits and armor. Bardock right away took off his torn up armor and suit, and starting rummaging through a cabinet. He started pulling out an exact copy of what he had been wearing, before I jumped up and stopped him.

"Why not dress better than that?" I said, pulling open the elite armor cabinet and tossing out blue suits.

"Whatever you say sir," he mumbled.

"Don't call me sir," I said, tossing him newer style armor that was a bit more mobile, just like the armor Kibito had given me when I was dead. The crew hesitated before shedding their old low level armor and putting on the nicer looking combat suits, gloves and boots included. I dawned my own new suit, shedding the scabby ones left on after the battle with the Zerg. I put my blue pants on first, inspecting my scars on my chest and stomach from the Zerg battle. They were pale in color now, but the skin was still a bit loose around them. They still looked like surgery marks that had to be stitched up. Fasha had just finished dressing, and came over to me, inspecting them herself. The crew suddenly left the room, leaving just us in there.

"So how you holding up kid?" she whispered while running her gloved finger over the old wounds.

"Okay I guess, it kinda bothers me that Vegeta planned all this, but I can live with it. I doubt he ran it his wife or anyone else first, knowing him," I chuckled and scratched the back of my head in a silly smile.

"Well I'm kinda in a tough spot here, rather we go with you and stay on your world or not. I'm the only female Saiyan left, I don't think the guys are going to want to mate with human females either," she said.

"I don't think Vegeta would ask them to go if he didn't expect you guys to want to come back. Besides, you guys are probably going to be much more powerful afterwards if I know Vegeta, and I do. And if my guess is right, we might do something about that little problem," I said. I put on my blue spandex top and slid the armor over my head, stretching it out to fit my form and putting on the new boots and gloves. Fasha leaned back against the wall, waiting for me it seemed. We left the room a minute later, tails both swishing in anticipation of Vegeta's plan on Namek.

**-**

"We arrive on Namek in about a day, I suggest you six get some rest," Vegeta said just as we entered the bridge area. So we turned right back around with the rest of the group and had Bardock lead the way to some bedroom areas. We found one after several attempts, though a few bodies lay scattered and dead in the room with about fifty beds or so. The beds were separated slightly by small walls between some of them, making cubical like bunks that were side by side. The crew for the most part stayed together, laughing and gossiping about the battle they had just witnessed. I didn't get involved; instead I opted to take one on the far side of the room, leaving myself alone to think about my more aggressive side and what it did today. In one hand I held the power to destroy galaxies with my command with my pure Saiyan strength and rage, and on the other I held my pure heart of goodness according to the Kais. The Kanassan's words didn't go unnoticed, he told me I had a pure enough heart to be worth the mystic power. And he told me that I would eventually master the Psi energy, but my previous actions had made me doubt if I had a truly pure heart or not. Though the way Vegeta spoke, it was like a built in reaction, and he had wanted me to shed some of my kindness in the first place. But my kindness had brought me this great power, or at least that's what I was led to believe. I was confused beyond belief. So confused I didn't notice Fasha slip in and plop down on the bed beside me, startling me from my trance.

"Whatcha thinking about?"

"I'm a bit confused about this whole how to be a better Saiyan thing. On one hand I am a bit too nice to people, making my heart more pure and able to attain this mystic power I was blessed with, and on the other I have the raging beast from hell that couldn't possibly have a shred of kindness in him. Yet Vegeta seems to prefer the beast that can't hold the great power, I don't get it," I slumped on the bed, holding my head in distress.

"I think you're letting it get to you too much, he mostly wants you to see that our race isn't just a bunch of brutes out for a fight like it may seem. We show emotion too, we just do it differently and only around others like us," Fasha said in seemingly deep understanding, "At the same time, he was right, you are a bit too nice. Don't get me wrong, I've seen you fight, and you do it very well, but out of battle you're just a puppy dog, and sometimes that can get the best of you. Those trashy women showed you that, even if you didn't accept their offer," she said, smiling strangely.

"Good point, I'll be more like a brick wall then next time," I laughed a little.

"Will you quit emitting that smell, you're driving me crazy!" Fasha said in a teasing voice, poking my side.

"What smell?" I asked.

"That one that tells me you're almost ready to be mated and make someone spew out a kid, it kinda gets to females you know. Just like we drive the males crazy, you drive us crazy, is that crazy enough for ya?"

I nodded, "Yeah, but its not like I'm trying to do it," I said, leaning back on the bed.

"Well it's a bit crowded in this room, mind if I bunk with you again?" Fasha asked with a wide smirk. I smiled, happy to have her company; she was a pretty good friend, even if our relationship was a bit more than just friends.

"Sure, I have plenty of room," I played along. She took off her armor, but left her suit on, and I did the same. She pushed the other bed she was on together with mine and laid back with her head on my arm. And soon we fell asleep like that; the day had been a bit pressing on us both.

**Interlude 18.1 –Fasha's request-**

"I would really appreciate it sire if you would allow it," Fasha said to Vegeta, both alone on the bridge.

"I've told you before girl. The boy's age must be restored, so you cannot have him!"

"Please sire, I'd do anything. I'd even wait for him, or become a child again myself!" Fasha was almost on her knees now. Her last statement caused Vegeta's eyebrow to twitch slightly.

"You would wait for him? You wouldn't return with your crew? But you would stay and wait for him, you are attracted to him that much?" Vegeta asked.

Fasha hesitated there, "Yes sire, I didn't think I did before, his kindness had made me think of him as weak minded. But lately I have been shown otherwise. I am intoxicated by his scent and his power, and I can say that he returns it to a degree, always trying to not disappoint you," Fasha said.

"I'm sure it's just lust, you should learn to control your urges," Vegeta muttered.

"I have sire. I'm a third class Saiyan so I know what it means to forget about what I want and do what is required. Something our elites have forgotten about. I am fairly sure about this," Fasha claimed.

"Humph, figures the boy's greatest weakness would turn out to be women. Very well, you have my permission to mark him as yours, however, you are to wait the ten years or so until he is mature before you complete the ritual. You will not leave his side for any advance on any other male during that span. Even if he accepts when you do the proposal, he or I can break it off at any time! That is my deal, do you accept?" the prince asked the low level girl with an extremely loud voice even for him.

"Yes sire," Fasha bowed.

"All right then, you are to perform the rituals as written and slowly bond with the boy without sealing the deal. I will be the witness, but be forewarned, you renig on this deal and he won't be able to save you from me!" Vegeta grunted back at her with his patented death glare. Fasha nodded and left the room quickly, skipping a little bit down the hall. _Somehow I don't think that girl is the one for the boy, even though all the signs currently point to her. It doesn't feel right, but then again I have been wrong before. Humph, a wish from Shenron will fix that, until then I suppose the boy could use a little… experience._ Vegeta smirked slightly as he stared out the window as the halfway point in the trip clicked off on the clock.

**Power levels:**

**Verto (suppressed): 5,800, 25 percent power: 138,000,000**

**Bardock: 8,000**

**Tora: 6,000**

**Shugesh: 4,800**

**Borgos: 4,700**

**Fasha: 3,300**

**Prince Vegeta: 6,000, max: 12,000**

**Nappa: 3,500**

**Raditz: 1,000**

**Frieza's elites: 8,000**

**Dodoria: 21,000**

**Zarbon: 23,000, transformed: 33,000**

**Frieza (form 1): 530,000**


	20. Return and Reunion

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 19: Return and Reunion**

I woke up in the barely comfortable bed. _Man, Frieza doesn't even treat his own troops well, or should I say didn't._ I smirked slightly, glancing over at Fasha, who remained asleep with an arm draped over my stomach. I yawned and stretched a little bit, careful not to wake her. When my fuzzy senses came back into play, I noticed a large ki directly in front of me. It belonged to Vegeta, who looked cranky as usual, staring at us.

"Uh, oops?" I grinned slightly.

He grunted, "No need for alarm boy, I am merely here as a witness, you can thank me later."

"Witness to what?"

"You'll see," he smirked slightly before returning to his usual scowl. Fasha stirred next to me and woke up quickly, not even noticing Vegeta and only kept her attention on me.

"My dear Verto, I offer myself to you as your life mate. I will not leave your side when in pain and will not assort myself with any other male. I will stay with you through the hells of the afterlife and beyond. I am incomplete without you; all that I have is yours! Do you accept my offer?" Fasha asked as if there was a script behind my head. I cocked an eyebrow, realizing how familiar this talk was, though it was more of a demand when Clerpe did it. _Okay, what the hell did I miss? _I glanced at Vegeta quickly, obvious confusion written on my face, and possibly a ki blast coming from his direction.

"She has my blessings boy, with full intention to wait for your youth body to reach maturity naturally before consummating the bond. I am merely the witness," Vegeta grumbled. _What's with this witness stuff, wait a sec, did he just say it was okay to mate with Fasha? And that she would WAIT?! That has some possibility._

"You would wait for me?" I asked.

"Yes," she said without another thought. I smiled, if she was willing to give it all up for me, and Vegeta had granted her permission, that held a lot of meaning in itself. And I found myself very attracted to her, more than just physically.

"You don't have to decide now boy. The offer stands for one week and then you cannot accept, and she cannot offer herself to you again," Vegeta explained. I thought about it for a brief moment, _spend the rest of my life with Fasha once I'm grown again_,_ that doesn't sound too bad, in fact it sounds exciting. Wait a sec, when the hell did this start up? I thought we weren't going to do anything like that._ Before I answered though, Vegeta jumped up and punched Fasha clean in the face, knocking her down. Instantly I was filled with rage, and instead of talking the situation out, I simply acted by knocking Vegeta across the room, through the wall and into the hall. I turned back to check on Fasha before realizing what I just did, but she held a bright smile. I sensed Vegeta come back quickly, rubbing his cheek.

"You obviously have mutual feelings, do you accept or not boy?" _That was just a test?_

"I accept," I said in slight confusion. Fasha came up beside me and held my head with her hands as I looked back at her. She still held that smile, but it was brighter now, more loving. She suddenly bit her lip and blood oozed out of her lips.

"Fasha why did you..?" I was cut off when she came closer and put a finger to her lips. Then she turned my head aside and ran her bloody finger up and down the side of my cheek, and back up again before retracting. Then she stood up and walked off, deep satisfaction came from her ki. I ran my hand through the blood she left on my cheek, looking at the fluid on my fingers, speechless. Vegeta still stood there, smirking.

"Sorry, I kind of reacted there without thinking," I sighed thinking how bad I was going to get it now.

"You acted correctly boy, for any male that accepts the females offer must act in defense of his soon to be chosen mate, which you did. Now you have been marked, no other female can touch you without her say in the matter, any Saiyan female anyway. The blood will dry and soak into your skin, one way to start a mating ritual. However, yours will not be complete until you mate for real, which will not be for some time, nor do you have to mark her back. She's been covered in enough of your scent to drive other males away. The girl asked my permission on the matter, which is correct because she is required to ask either the trainer, father, or commander of her target mate for permission, at least properly. Oh didn't know that did you? Well chalk that up on the list of need to knows. Those women before were just sluts and whores, trashier than Kakarot, but you or myself can break off this deal at any time if it is deemed necessary. She however cannot break from it once her offer is accepted. You can expect telepathic connections to kick in when you two are close just like the Satan girl, only she will likely annoy you to death since she will be able to hear just about everything. And for the record, I am proud of you boy for becoming more of a Saiyan and taking a Saiyan for a mate. I am impressed," Vegeta said, then walking off with a bright smirk. I just sat there, even more confused. _Okay, what the hell just happened? _

**-**

Well Vegeta was right about the blood, it soaked in and vanished quickly, leaving no trace of it at all. I wiped off whatever had dried and headed for the kitchen area I smelled food from. I entered, to see most of the Saiyans laughing and talking, Shugesh and Borgos were having an arm wrestling match between themselves while Bardock and Tora were downing a lot of wine. Fasha was preparing plates of food and started bringing them over as I set down. She flashed me a few small smiles, some that I returned before she put food in front of my face. Then I went into stomach mode and started chowing down on whatever had been provided. The other Saiyans stopped as well and shoveled down the food as it arrived, Fasha came back with her own plate and sat next to me. Whatever she fixed was really filling, it only took us one plate of the stuff to get full, and maybe it had been just that full of nutrients and stuff.

"So kid, I see you hooked Fasha after all, or did she hook you? She threaten to tear your tail off or something?" Shugesh laughed along with the other Saiyans. She responded by chucking something that looked like a chicken wing at his head.

He caught it and started eating it, "Thanks Fasha, you going for me next or sticking with him? Hahaha!" The group erupted with laughter again, and she cracked a smile at their behavior.

"Hey kid, thanks for letting us know Dodoria does have a heart, it was hard to tell!" Tora said, laughing almost too hard at the end. The joking continued, though it might have been normal for them. They had been the wisecrackers from hell when they were sober, now I was getting a taste of them drunk.

"Hey you know, Zarbon always did look like a pirate or something with that dark blue scouter against his eye. Now he has a reason to cover it up!" Shugesh pointed out. _Oh boy, they're nuts, maybe it's the booze. Probably celebrating after what I just did to Frieza._

Tora got down on his knee and started emitting a struggling voice, "Are, are, are you a Super Saiyan? Because I'm the Lord of the universe and I know I can't even breathe unless you allow it!" Tora said, trying to sound like Frieza. We finished up the small meal as the other guys continued joking about random things.

Then a loud buzzer went off, "Arrival on planet Namek in three minutes, stand by for landing," the computer voice announced.

"Okay, lets go!" Bardock said, getting up first and filing out with the rest of us. Fasha and I walked out together, and stayed side by side for as long as we could.

We had landed in the middle of what looked to be a Namek village. Several Nameks were around, and mostly around their planted trees or whatever they called them. _Gee, look at all the Piccolos. _Vegeta led the way down the ramp, looking around.

"Where are the two boys that I left here under your care?" he asked one older looking Namek.

"Ah, they left to train in the islands over there. They should be back momentarily." I sensed the boys coming back all right, and they came back tossing some kind of orange ball between them. I suddenly realized it was really a Dragonball they were throwing and catching; I had forgotten that the Namek balls were much larger.

"And it seems they were playing with a Dragonball," the Namek added with distaste in his mouth.

"Brats, get down here!" Goten grabbed the Dragonball and flew down with his purple hair counterpart, looking at Vegeta with hopeful eyes. It was then the crew realized how much Goten looked like Bardock that everyone except me gasped.

"Goten, come meet Kakarot's father. He's your grandfather!" Vegeta said, pointing to the Goku look-alike.

"My grandson?!" Bardock asked in shock. His Super Saiyan grandson tackled him a half second later, putting him on the ground with confusion.

"Grandpa!"

"Yes, that is Kakarot's son, one of them anyway. That one is his second spawn, Goten. The purple haired one is my heir, Trunks," Vegeta explained. I noticed how he threw general disrespect to the Son Family, but no surprise there.

"_Does he always look at Kakarot and his family like that?"_ I heard Fasha say. I glanced at her, but she had a grin on her face and hadn't moved her lips.

"_Well that didn't take long, I see you've figured this out already. What did you do, download the information? And yes he does actually. Long story,"_ I replied.

Fasha snorted slightly and give my back a tiny little slap, "_Can't keep any secrets now, can you runt?_"

"Wow, Bardock a grandpa just like that! I can see those gray hairs now!" Tora joked.

"Watch out Bardock, those two are demons!" I warned.

"Enough chit chat, we need to get a move on," Vegeta barked, shutting down the situation. More Nameks had arrived and were carrying the large dragonballs in their arms.

"Okay Namek, whenever you're ready!" Vegeta said.

"Arise Porunga!" The sky turned dark instantly, and the balls glowed brightly.

"Now what?" Fasha asked.

"The dragon comes out, don't be nervous. This is my first time seeing it in person too," I said with a hand on her shoulder. Then a bright light shot up into the sky, twisting around in random directions while it sailed up. I noticed it left a large trail behind it until the light beams all merged together to become one large and oddly shaped ball of light. Then the light faded slightly and green and yellow scales took its place. The top of it showed off a few antennae as well as large red eyes. Several black spikes stuck out of it as well, and the dragon roared as its huge formed took shape.

"Whoa," I slipped.

"Man that is one hell of a big lizard!" Shugesh said, stuttering a bit. Several heads bobbed up in down in agreement.

"You have awoken me from my slumber, I will grant you three wishes that are within my power! What is your first wish?" Porunga uttered loudly. The elderly Namek looked back at Vegeta for his wish.

Vegeta kept the first wish simple, "Restore the planet Vegita!" The Namek quickly rattled off Namekian language to the dragon.

"It will be granted!" The dragon's eyes glowed brightly, "It is done, the planet Vegita has been restored, what is your next wish?"

"Revive all the Saiyans killed be Frieza and his goons, and place them all on Vegita. Excluding us," Vegeta ordered.

The Namek translated for the dragon, who seemed to scowl, "That's not an easy wish, but it will be granted!" I narrowed my eyes slightly, _As I recall he could only bring back one person per wish before the upgrade._ I didn't complain though, bad changes in this universe had been hitting me rapidly; it was nice to have a good thing happen.

His eyes glowed again, "While I'm reviving the Saiyans, what is your last wish?"

"Transport us nine Saiyans back to where me and the boys came from. Back to our time and dimension about ten weeks after we left!"

"Why not to just when we left?" I asked.

"I considered that, but since Bulma hasn't been able to retrieve us yet, it means she was unable to fix the time machine. They were probably going to use the Earth dragon to wish us back. According to my calculations, that should give us a few days before the balls are recharged, and I want to restore your youth quickly before you two do have much time to defy me," Vegeta growled, clearly referring to both Fasha and I.

After the translation, the dragon grunted slightly, "That is an easy one, good luck Saiyans!" Porunga said, and a golden light wrapped up around us. It faded quickly, but then we found ourselves in the daylight in a city. I quickly scanned around and found completely familiar ki signals around, finding Goku and Gohan's in the distance and Piccolo's up on the look out.

**-**

The dragon had dumped us off at Capsule Corp of all places, but I wasn't complaining.

"Finally were home, I want to get some real food. The Nameks didn't have much other than water!" Trunks whined.

"Quiet boy, you can wait until the woman gets done with her usual crap!" Vegeta said, walking up to the door. He opened it and went on inside, walking down to the west wing to find Mom. Trunks and Goten sat in the lobby with the rest of us, Trunks pouting a little about the food and Goten asking his newly found grandpa random questions.

"So this is where you and the prince live, very not bad," Tora said, taking a seat on the couch. I sensed Vegeta come back, with Mom in full pursuit right behind him. She stomped into the room and went right for Goten and Trunks, grabbing them by the ears and dragging them away, a furious look in her eyes.

"Whoa, that was Prince Vegeta's mate? Yikes!" Shugesh mumbled.

Vegeta heard it and grunted, "Just wait until you meet Kakarot's woman!" _Oh no, not Chichi._ Mom came back a half minute later, a little less angry now, and she had dawned her curious face.

"Well, those two are taken care of. I called Chichi already, so they'll be over soon, as for you two, it's about time Vegeta! Now who are these people you brought back with you?" Mom demanded. _Gonna be a long day. _

-

"So your Goku's dad? Well the resemblance is definitely there, and no doubt the same love for food and fighting, but your personality is totally different," Mom said, almost astonished.

"That is because Kakarot smacked his head when he was a kid woman, I thought you knew that," Vegeta grunted from his spot on the wall.

"Yes I knew that Vegeta! But I didn't think it changed him that much!" Mom screeched at him, causing everyone to hold their ears.

"If not for her blue hair, she'd pass for a Saiyan any day," Tora whispered to me.

"We're just getting started," I grinned before realizing what I just said, again. Fasha, who had been standing near Bardock, started making her way over to me before Mom could see her.

"This is your adoptive mother?" she asked in wonder.

"Yeah, don't worry, she's just stressed out right now. She's actually a pretty good person. It's her voice though that hurts my ears," I said, faking ear pain.

"Now if you eat all the food like Goku does, me and you are gonna have words!" Mom yelled as she and Shugesh officially met. Mom came down our way in a quick pace, making my head turn circles. Then before I knew it she had stopped in front of Fasha and myself. _Oh this is gonna suck, that damn skillet is coming out I just know it!_

"Well now, I guess I can count on Vegeta to bring back at least one girl. I was worried that it would be all guys knowing him, and all the testosterone around here would be a bit overwhelming. What's your name?"

"Fasha, m'lady," she almost sounded nervous.

"Oh don't call me that, my name's Bulma. I don't want you guys trying to follow Saiyan codes of honor and respect around here. I can't stand being addressed like a queen or something, been there pretty long as it is. Besides, I need you around to help control these beasts around here!" Mom giggled a little bit, causing Fasha to finally turn a smile. _Well that went off without a hitch._

"And now you, we just can't let you go anywhere and you're all over the ladies! Here I thought you were the shy one!" she beamed at me.

Fasha had to chuckle a little bit, "Yes he was shy at first. I, ahem, got him out of that mood." _Spoke to soon, Spoke to soon! _Blush city arrived quickly, earning a laugh out of them both. _Betrayed already, geez._

"Ah I see, that would explain that hint of dried blood on his cheek. Vegeta told me about some of these things, that's a female mark isn't it?" Mom looked torn between happy and mad. I smacked my head slightly, _Oh how does she do this?_

"So where's yours, doesn't he have to do that to you?" she asked, checking Fasha's face over.

"No woman, females have to mark males in Saiyan culture. Males are not required to do so until they mate, and that is a different mark," Vegeta explained from the wall, "You wouldn't see it on her anyway, only males could see it on her just like only females would see it on him. Kind of a natural barrier against dishonor, however much more permanent and noticeable than one of those silly wedding rings your earthlings have. Once the ritual is complete, that mark disappears." _Whatever happened to privacy?_

"Well, I hope you realize he needs to be reworked a bit, thanks to my son. So he won't really be available for awhile," Mom suddenly turned serious.

"She knows woman, I wouldn't have allowed it had she not sworn her head to the boy with that in mind. They will not be mating for another ten years, or there will be hell to pay," Vegeta's voice suddenly shifted to the threatening tone. I cringed slightly and kept quiet, though Fasha looked even more nervous about the whole thing.

"Well, since we have five more of you, we should get some sleeping arrangements figured out," Mom began.

"No need m'lady, we will not intrude on his majesty's home," Bardock said, with a slight bow.

"Enough of that royalty crap, you're on Earth, not planet Vegita! You will stay here, and since we have the room we don't mind, got that?" she raised her voice slightly as everyone just stared and nodded slowly. Mom slowly began to pass out sleeping arrangements, before the door swung open and one of the greatest terrors of the universe stomped in, Goku's wife.

-

"That is my daughter in law?" Bardock asked in shock as he watched Chichi chase down Goten and Trunks with an overly large hammer swinging in the air. Unfortunately for the boys, Chichi was a former fighter, and besides Eighteen and Videl, was the strongest female on the Earth. She had to be, she put up with Goku didn't she? Well it showed because Goten and Trunks were running nearly as fast as they could without ki, but then they were too scared to realize this as they ran back and forth in the hallways, passing us occasionally.

"Yeah, don't piss her off. I'm not sure where she gets the weapons from so quickly, but they don't feel so good when she uses them. I don't know what that damn skillet of hers is made of, but it sure hurts like hell, and it has a habit of not breaking," I said, backing off a little when the boys made another fly by. Chichi didn't come running back, instead I sensed her go for the kitchen, ready for a different approach that worked.

"Where did she go?" Fasha whispered.

"Give it a moment, she's baiting a trap," I said.

"Goten, Trunks, dinner!" The scared faces lifted off and they made a mad dash for the kitchen, giving off two resounding crashes a few seconds later.

"Works every time," Mom laughed. Chichi came stomping back a minute later without the hammer, and she looked a bit more content now.

"She certainly has an overwhelming personality," Fasha whispered, shifting a bit closer to me as Chichi gave everyone the evil eye before talking to Mom.

"Tell me about it, I've been whacked with her frying pan before just for two badly timed words, you do the math," I whispered back.

"Why don't you just kill her?" she suggested, causing me to gasp.

"You're kidding right? That is like signing a death warrant, even for me," I said, realizing Fasha had no real idea of whom she was dealing with, or more specifically, whom Chichi was married to.

"Why is that?" she asked.

"Suffer the wrath of a few of the most powerful warriors in the universe at the same time, no thanks. Especially when they're a couple of my friends as well. Sure I'm strong, but Gohan, her son, is a bit stronger than me, and his father isn't someone you can just go up against and hope to beat no sweat. He has a history of beating enemies ten times stronger than him at any given notice," I explained.

"Oh, never mind then. I guess it's just that soft heartedness of yours," she said, a bit more warmth in her voice.

I blushed slightly, "Well I'm also serious about that. Now where the hell is Goku at?" Speaking of the Saiyan himself, the door opened again, and this time someone a bit more familiar to the group walked in.

"What the hell, Bardock has a twin?" Shugesh asked.

"Not that I know of, and I've known him since he was two zurals old," Tora said in confusion.

"Hi, I'm Goku!"

"You're a Saiyan though aren't you? What kind of name is Goku? It's not Saiyan," Tora asked.

Vegeta started to chuckle, "I see I'm not the only one that agrees on that one Kakarot. See what happens when you mix up too much of the gene pool, Bardock? Eventually a block head comes out!" The comment was generally ignored, because everyone just realized who Goku was, mostly Bardock.

"You're my son?" Bardock whispered into the air, just loud enough for us to hear.

"You're my dad, wow I think I see a mirror! You look just like me and Goten, except for that scar?"

"An old gift from one of Frieza's training camps," he said, holding his hand to his face. Father and son stared at each other some more, one with a bright smile, one with more of a shocked look. The group backed off from the two a bit, seeing as the two needed some time together. I grimaced slightly, _Okay Goku, you've met your dad once already, please don't act like it's the first time, then again…_

"And just what were you doing young man?" A voice said behind me, scaring me shitless because I recognized it. I looked back to see Chichi's face right in front of mine, causing me to spin around rather quickly.

I grinned and scratched my head a bit, "Out and about?" CLANG! While I was holding my head in agony, I sensed Fasha's ki rise with anger.

I quickly put a hand in front of her, shaking my head, "Don't even think about it Fasha, I'm okay." Fasha slowly backed off, but remained slightly angry, no doubt the protective instincts were kicking in.

"Look at you, walking around with a bunch of Saiyans that probably haven't bathed for a few years or more, and picking up some girl in the bar on their planet I suppose. How long did you know her before you did anything?" _Oh boy, through the wringer._

"Three months, and she was part of Bardock's crew that I joined," I answered truthfully, knowing that Chichi would be able to tell if I lied about it.

"Humph, well I knew Goku ever since he was a tiny kid! It's best to at least know a girl before even considering dating one. What were you thinking, or were you at all with that teenaged mind? Trying to become a father early?"

"Chichi, you can't really blame him. Since the boys used the growth ray on him, well, his normal teenage and adult hormones kicked in, and well you know how Saiyans are with those," Mom hinted at it the subject.

"Well I suppose your right about that Bulma, Gohan did change a bit when he hit eighteen a few months ago, but I thought this one was going to be the shy one!" _Great, here it comes, prepare to launch extra blood to face, in five, four, three, two…_

"Well he should at least clean his face off, it isn't proper to be standing in a ladies presence with red all over his face!" Chichi pointed out.

Goku decided to step in at this point, "What red on his face, I don't see anything Chichi?" _What a long day, and it's only bound to get worse._

"I'm gonna get some more comfortable clothes on, I'll be right back," I said before anyone could say otherwise, making a beeline for the stairs.

A hand grabbed my ear, "Hold on, I'm not finished with you yet young man! Well spill it, did you mate with her or not?" Chichi asked with the frying pan out and ready. _Wow, the question came a whole ten seconds later than I expected it. _

"No harpy, the boy didn't go that far. And he won't for at least ten years," Vegeta interjected, turning Chichi's wrath to him. I didn't waste any time after that, once Chichi changes targets its time to go before she turns around again.

**-**

I pulled off my stretchy armor, the material was a bit different then Mom's spandex, but it was pretty close. Hers was a bit lighter and more durable. I tossed the armor plating over next to the dresser, knowing I'd probably use it again sometime. I slipped on a t-shirt and shorts, wiggling my tail through the back hole that had been cut into it before wrapping it up around my waist; it's permanent spot so to speak. I heard a few more clangs go off, both times Vegeta's ki winced slightly. I sat down on the bed, rethinking the events of the past three months. Well, mostly the past few days in my point of view, the months went pretty fast since we were in hyper sleep most of the time. But only one thought trend remained constant, Fasha, it always came back to Fasha.

_Did I do the right thing, or is it all a mistake? Was she serious about the whole thing? Ten years is a long time to wait on someone for something like that. Why am I rethinking this? I already accepted, and Vegeta would never let me back out on something like this, he's just as soon kill me for such an act of dishonor. Ah hell, now I even have that shit he drilled into me in full play. Oh well, might as well deal with it, I feel like I made the right choice. But then again, that's burned me before. Argh, why me?_ The door creaked open slightly, and Fasha stepped in, snapping me out of my daze. She closed it quickly, walking slowly over.

"You all right up here?" she sounded concerned.

"Yeah, why?" I lied.

"Because I can hear your confused voice talking to itself from all the way down there, and it seemed pretty easy to track you down," she beamed at me, crossing her arms.

"_You heard my thoughts again_," I replied silently.

"You sure? though it was barely a whisper, I heard just fine. Weird, what is the range on that?"

"_I'm not sure, Vegeta told me that mates can do this when within close range, like now. I'm not even trying to do it, but you'll probably start hearing them like now,"_ I replied through my thoughts.

Fasha still seemed slightly amazed, "That'll take some adjustment."

"You try it and see if I hear you? It won't be too difficult for you to transmit to me, but to others it won't go. You did it earlier after all," I suggested.

"_Let's see, what should I say? Oh I know! You look like you need some help holding down that bed!"_

I paled slightly, "Yeah, you got it," I said quickly.

"So how about it?" she asked, running a finger down my muscled arm.

"Yeah, and suffer ultimate embarrassment because you know everyone is going to hear us," I looked at her like she was crazy.

"You're saying it isn't worth it?" _Good point_. The door swung open before the subject continued, and there stood the figure I was hoping wouldn't show up just yet, but she did.

"Well, look who's finally back, and with a different girl too! Oh I think I'm jealous!" Videl said with her fake scrunched up face of doom, "Looks like your face needs washed too, you big brat!"

"Who is this?" Fasha asked, standing back up, a slight shift of hardened emotions.

"Videl Satan, nice to meet you too!" _Well that attitude sure doesn't melt in the face of new people._

"That's Gohan's girl, Goku's daughter in law," I said quickly, before realizing what I just slipped.

"How did you know that Verto? Chichi and Bulma never told you that we were now engaged, or did they?"

"That bite mark on your neck gave it away of course, and the smell of course. I'm guessing you're a month pregnant aren't you?" Fasha asked for me. _Well she did save me a bit that time, I gotta watch it with these close calls._

"I'll never know how you Saiyans do that!" Videl said, annoying, but stepping a bit closer to stand face to face with Fasha, but not looking at her.

"Three months and you didn't grow at all?" she asked me in a playful voice.

"Pure blood Saiyans usually reach their maximum height after nine Zurals. Besides, it isn't height that determines the winner of a fight!" Fasha stood on edge, she obviously didn't get that it was just a joke. I got a sudden feeling that she was ready to pounce on Videl and tear out her internal organs.

"Excuse me miss, but I was only kidding around. Friends do that you know!" Videl said, scowling at Fasha's death glare.

"You're friends with this Earthling?" Fasha turned in slight surprise. _Great, this just keeps getting better._

"Yeah, he saved my butt a few times, friends do that too!" Videl claimed before I could answer.

"Shouldn't have wasted his time, but then again he is a big softy. I'll need to work that out of him," Fasha crossed her arms as Videl cringed slightly. What I thought was the limit for Videl's angry face set a new record.

"Humph, well if I didn't meet Gohan before and officially go with him, he would have been my next choice," Videl said, turning her face back to a smirk.

"Too late little girl, he's mine now!" Fasha snapped. I thought about standing in between them before something broke out, but then that probably wouldn't get me very far. Then Videl just had to start adding insult to injury, mostly towards me in general, and mostly in effort to drive her away.

"Why would you want him? He's just a kid, probably doesn't know how to treat a lady anyway, well a human one anyway. All you Saiyans are savage brutes from what I hear!" I frowned at the insults, but at least I didn't go off. What kept Fasha on the ground and motionless I still don't know, but she kept her composure. Good thing too, I wasn't sure if I would have been able to stop her.

"Is that a fact? Guess you don't know him that well then, too bad. He may be a kid, but he's a whole lot better in battle and heh, bed, then any male I've ever come across," Fasha smirked slightly at the end, not realizing she just left herself wide open.

"So you are just some slut he picked up at a bar, I thought so. If he has any brains left over after living your dirty lifestyle, he's kick you to the curb in a heartbeat!" Videl said, pressing the button I feared she would. Fasha's ki rose with anger, and I could tell she was about fed up with it.

"Videl stop it, Fasha's a good girl just like you are. She was just brought up in a different way than you," I said quickly, attempting to end the conversation before it turned ugly, ugly as in cleaning Videl's remains off a wall. Fasha and Videl relaxed a bit after that, but not before Videl's angry face turned to me.

"How could you go for an alien girl anyway? There are a lot of human girls around here that would be good for you. I know I would have for sure if not for Gohan. Maybe Erasa, though she's a bit ditzy," Videl asked.

"You forget, I am an alien Videl," I reminded her.

"But not completely!"

"If not for my future mate, and for Bardock's unborn great-grandchild, I would kill you where you stood right now! It is only natural for a Saiyan to want another Saiyan, just like a human weakling would want another weakling. He had his choice among us Saiyans, I made my offer and he accepted, there is nothing else to discuss!" Fasha said, standing in between Videl and myself now.

"_Videl, please stop this, I don't want you and Fasha going to war over me. We always agreed that you were with Gohan, so please don't try to dictate who I am with. Trust me on this one, I don't want to ruin our friendship,"_ I thought at Videl intentionally to get the point across.

Unfortunately Fasha heard it as well, "You have a bond with her too? Or is that just telepathy again?"

"Vegeta called it friendship like connection, he said it was cause I saved her life a few times. I'm not so sure it's very accurate, why?" I asked.

"A little bit, those bonds are rare on Vegita. More often called bonds of alliance, but rarely do any go deeper than that. Maybe only ten of those ever occur every generation. The warrior and trainer bonds are the more fitting versions of those, without the telepathy. However, that only happens between true Saiyans, and she is not," Fasha said as she turned and sat on the bed next to me. She seemed a bit calmer now, maybe because she knew that Videl and I had a special connection, and one that she could not deny.

"Well, I suppose I can put up with her. As long as she doesn't try to dishonor her own mate and come for you," Fasha said as she sent Videl another death glare, refueling Videl's hateful gaze.

"Well, I hope you can take the heat then! Because once I have this kid and get back to training, I'm going to tear you apart!" Videl snarled before turning on her heel.

"Good luck then, weakling!" Fasha shouted back, regardless of my glare to both of them.

**-**

Apparently Mom learned of the Videl-Fasha rivalry pretty quick, because she was up the stairs in a flash, and Gohan came in with her. _Better and better, this just isn't my day!_

"_You're right, now how strong is this Gohan again? If I can't challenge his mate, I'll be glad to take him on!"_ Fasha grinned slightly as he strode in with a confused look on his face.

"_Don't even consider it, he's a little stronger than me, and you haven't even seen anywhere close to that just yet. I'll put this in terms you can understand. You remember what I did to Frieza? Well he was doing shit like that when he was a kid!"_ Fasha paled slightly, right in tune with Mom's deathly glare.

"I heard you and Videl had some words, I suggest you hold your tongue then. You may be the kid's girl for now, but I will not have fights in this house. Especially not between you and her, EVER!" Fasha leaned back a little, Mom's presence scared her, and rightly so. I didn't even have to tell her not to attack in retaliation. She knew full well who Mom was married to, and even Goku wouldn't be able to stop Vegeta if he was pissed off enough.

"What happened man?" Gohan asked me, even though the clash of females was still continuing.

"Bad words on both sides of the front," I said in truth, before Fasha's angry face turned to me in slight shock.

"You're not going to back me up on this?" Fasha asked in a sorrowful tone.

"Hey I'm being honest, you think I can stand up and just lie to everyone? Sure Videl started it with a badly timed joke about height, and she insulted Saiyans as a whole, but you weren't really helping with the death threats you know," I scolded. Fasha relaxed a bit, but Mom sure didn't.

"Gohan, you can leave. I need to discuss this with these two, there won't be anymore of this okay hun?"

"Um, ok," Gohan shook his head and left the room quickly. With that said, Mom turned back to Fasha in a heartbeat.

"You threatened her? Girl, do you realize how much danger you could be in by doing that, do you?" _Here it comes._

"Well, I was told she wasn't strong at all, only that her mate Gohan is insanely powerful. No offence, but Gohan seems pretty soft," Fasha said flatly.

"That's because you haven't gotten to see his Saiyan side yet, and pray that you aren't on the other side of the fence whenever you do. I know Saiyans are aggressive by nature, I should know because I live with the most egotistical one of them all, and I've seen him get pretty angry and blow things up without a second thought. But no one, not even Goku, can duplicate the shit I've seen Gohan do when he's mad. There is no human and no Saiyan, there's just an uncontrolled beast that will destroy whatever made him mad in the first place. There is no stopping him once the beast is unleashed! Why do you think he's such a gentle person in the first place, Goku and Chichi drilled that into him for years, but she didn't allow him to train. Then he was in his first battle when he was about five, or two and a half in your terms, and he had to watch his father suffer while not being able to do anything! It was that first time as I hear that the beast came out and started taking names. It's like another mode that he goes into, rather in control or not. Even Vegeta knows to stay away when Gohan is mad, and I mean on the edge of snapping mad. Many villains have learned the hard way, Frieza was on that list as well," Mom shook her finger slightly. Fasha seemed unfazed, until she said that even Vegeta knew better.

"And if you weren't in enough danger from Gohan in that department, then you would be from myself, Chichi, and Goku! And no one in their right mind would dare those odds, so just watch it," Mom scolded before backing off a little bit.

Fasha scowled, "_What is this place, a farm for cowards or fighters?"_

"_Just a different lifestyle, Fasha. You can adapt can't you?_" I asked silently while Mom glared at her.

"_Of course I can!"_

"You might need to keep an eye on her kid, knowing Videl like we do, she'd probably get ridiculously brave and challenge her to a fight or something. So just stick by her," Mom turned to leave, but stopped quickly, "Oh by the way, I'm gonna be throwing a party tonight since you guys are back. I've been meaning to throw another reunion party anyway, I'll have the Karaoke machine out, you can plug in that music player of yours and crank out a few of those good ones I've heard you sing along to. Just watch it on the heavy metal and the rap stuff okay? You know Chichi would tear off your head after pounding it in with the pan if you were to play some of the stuff I've heard off that thing! Party starts in a few hours, so you have some time alone before you need to get washed up. Oh and Fasha, I will require you to come with me tomorrow, we'll do some shopping and get you some other clothes rather than your armor okay? I'll get some for you tonight here pretty soon." With all that said Mom left. I sensed a lot of confusion within Fasha.

"I don't get it, one minute this place seems to be nothing but a breeding ground for soft weaklings, and the next I'm threatened that my life could be in danger?"

"Welcome to Earth," I said with a slight grin.

"Well, I suppose I can handle it as long as she lets me sleep with you," Fasha cooed a bit, scooting closer. The door swung open, startling both of us, and it was Mom again.

"Something I forgot to tell you, Vegeta says you two can have all the sex you want as long as you don't go too far. I don't really approve but I know Saiyans aren't in danger of pregnancy until mature, I guess you don't count. Just keep it down tonight, we are right next door!" _Speak of the devil, as if she needed incentive._ Blood rushed to my face faster than lightning, and even Fasha blushed a bit too.

Mom giggled, "Whoops, did I say too much?" She shut the door while laughing all the way down the stairs.

"Well you heard the queen, time to get down!" Fasha laughed, jumping towards me with a hungry look in her eye.


	21. Song Styles

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 20: Song Styles**

I was lying in my bed about an hour later, totally wiped out. These Saiyan women apparently had a habit of not stopping until their male partners were close to dead. _More like making love to some sort of wild gorilla pumped up on angle dust._

"Oh shut up, you liked it," Fasha whispered. _No argument there, thankfully I'm so strong._

"Besides, I need to get as much out of you as I can until you're a kid again, then I'll have to make due with myself. Though I don't see why you can't just stay as you are, I hate waiting," Fasha whined a little.

"The Kai's said it would increase my potential or something. They were pretty insistent about it, and knowing us we will always need a little power here and there," I explained.

"But you're already really strong right, why would you need more?" Fasha asked, confused.

"You don't get it. As strong as we are, there's always a chance that something or someone else will come along that is stronger. That burned us a few months back when we all thought there was no other, and we almost lost that one," I explained.

"Almost, but you won didn't you?"

"Not before most of the earth died, including the planet blowing up. I died once and took the beating of my life a few times. Vegeta almost died twice, and a lot of the group needed wished back. Something funny though, Goku started off dead, and he was granted a full life again," I smiled strangely.

"That is pretty weird, but coming from you I wouldn't doubt it," she grinned slightly.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well you're are easily the weirdest Saiyan I've ever met," she said.

"I'll keep that in mind if Vegeta is busy trying to beat you up," I said, scowling. A knock came to the door, causing the blankets on the bed to be grabbed rather quickly.

"I'll get it," I said, getting up and grabbing my shorts. I opened the door to find Mom standing in the hall with a truly evil grin on her face.

"Having a little fun in there I see, do it while you can. Here's some clothes for her," Mom giggled slightly as she handed them to me.

I rolled my eyes, "Thanks." Mom laughed a bit more before walking down the hall, leaving me shaking my head.

"What is it?" Fasha asked as I shut the door.

"Hope you're ready for a night of embarrassment. She's going to make our lives miserable, just don't snap on anyone. Speaking of which, if an annoying old man tries to touch you in anyway, don't kill him. Just smack him to the other side of the room. He's a pervert," I chuckled at the thought of Master Roshi even considering trying to get at Fasha, _boy she'd rip him a new asshole_.

"I'd rip him more than a new asshole," she smiled and started putting on the t-shirt Mom had left for her.

"You know, that is getting really annoying. Why can't I hear yours until you actually send one to me?"

"I'm not sure really, maybe its because male minds are weaker, and we females can block them out when we want! I'm certainly not having much trouble!" _Wonderful._

"Well, I suppose this doesn't look too horrible," Fasha said, as she had just put on the baggy shorts. Mom had gotten a size or two too big, but it compensated for the tail, which doubled for a belt when needed. She had given her a sea green shirt with Capsule written on the front, and black shorts that hung towards her knees, but Fasha kept her boots.

"Hey look, we almost match, except yours is blue!" she said with a girlish grin as I slipped my shirt on.

"Right," I said, full of sarcasm. I reached over and turned on my music player, wanting slight refreshment if I was going to be doing any kind of singing tonight.

"That thing plays music huh, what kind?"

"Just about anything that was considered rock and roll, in my terms anyway. It's something I was big on in my dimension, since its gonna be a party atmosphere, I'll stick to soft and classic, less words to worry about. Then I won't have to worry about a metal frying pan coming down on my head. This was all music from my home world," I explained, loading up a few songs that I knew very well.

"Gotta practice up a bit if I'm gonna so any singing tonight. Mom caught me off guard last time and didn't even tell me before she shoved me on stage and picked a random one. She apologized for all the frying pan hits later because since she put it on random, it hit one of my heavy swearing songs, my head still rings a bit because of that," I rubbed a sore spot on my head over the memory.

"Really, what song was that, could you play it just in here?"

"Yeah, but be ready," I warned, turning the dial until it hit the one. After a few phrases, followed by the chorus, Fasha wrinkled her nose slightly, seeing how Chichi might not like it.

"It's called Surfacing by a rockband that was from my home town. And unfortunately I didn't recognize it until after it started up and Mom didn't show me how to control the damn thing. Hell I didn't even get a chance to run before that damn frying pan smacked my head," I shrugged slightly with my arms out.

"So what, you're going to sing along to these?"

"Yeah, that's what Karaoke is. You can do it without the script if you know the song, otherwise there's a script of words on a screen for you to read in sync with the song. I know a lot of them by heart and rarely need it; Mom's machine is really good with these," I explained, skipping to the first one.

"Show me then," Fasha sat on the bed while I hit play.

"_This ain't a song for the broken hearted"_

"_No silent prayer for the faith departed"_

"_But I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd_

_Your gonna hear my voice when I shout it out loud!"_

_It's my life, Its now or never_

_But I ain't gonna live forever_

_I just wanna live while I'm alive_

_It's my life_

_My heart is like an open highway_

_Like Frankie said, I did it my way_

_I just wanna live while I'm alive_

_Cause it's, my, life!"_

I rambled through the whole song, as I had memorized it long ago, though I needed a little bit of a refresher. Having my memory blocked by the Kais sure didn't help, even if it had only been temporary. Fasha just watched with a dreamy look in her eye, resting her head on her hands and watching me sing along. When it was over, I took in a deep breath. It felt good to listen and sing that song again.

"Wow, that was really good. Though you didn't sound like the singer it still sounded like it was really you that wrote it, good job!"

"Gee thanks, I get that a lot whenever I sing along like that in front of people. I usually don't though, some thought I looked like a fool or something, funny how it was okay when they did it," I put a finger to my chin with a thoughtful look.

"Well, I think that no one can match that talent, lover," Fasha smiled and leaned forward to plant a kiss on my forehead.

"It's not that much of a talent, I just have a good memory and can mimic the sound," I muttered. The door slammed open and found created a new hole in the wall.

"Out," Vegeta snapped, pointing for Fasha to leave. _Great what now? _Fasha left without question, and Vegeta slammed the door shut, causing some drywall to crumble to the floor, despite the Saiyan proof doors.

"Boy, I require your assistance, the woman requests me sing a ridiculous song at this reunion of hers. I know your into such things so I require a suitable noise you call music to shut her up, and make it fast!" _This should be good._

"Well, what kind of music do you like?" I asked.

"I don't care, whatever you think is correct for a prince to be singing!" I smirked slightly at his dismay, suddenly thinking up some things that wouldn't be so good for his ego.

"Don't even consider it boy, I will sample it now! Otherwise it's five hundred times gravity for five days!" he warned. I groaned, _Damn, I better pick a good one. _I started scrolling through the small list on the screen, ignoring all the ones I knew Chichi would scream over. I then scrolled across one that had Vegeta written all over it, and hit play. When the guitar hit, Vegeta actually grinned a little.

"Sounds like my style, what's it called?"

"Bad to the bone." The song played and Vegeta's smirk got a little wider as it went on.

"I'll do that one then," Vegeta said in a victory sounding voice. Then he just left without a word, not that I expected one. _Vegeta singing, where's the camera?_

**-**

After I practiced a few more songs alone, I made my way downstairs, music player in hand. Most of the party was in the lobby, as Mom and Chichi were in the kitchen, no doubt helping the overwhelmed robots. Fasha and Videl stood on opposite ends of the room, glaring daggers at each other. Krillin was the only human fighter that had arrived so far, though I didn't even see him yet, it was hard not to notice Eighteen first.

"So you're Goku's dad, nice to meet you!" Krillin said to Bardock, extending a hand. Bardock took it with caution, but shook regardless when he saw the slight smile on his son's face. Krillin introduced himself to the rest of the crew quickly, finding a new torture scene in front of him, namely Fasha and myself. He didn't say much at first, he didn't need to, I already knew what he was thinking.

"What?" Fasha asked him directly.

"Quite a fish you caught there kid, looks like a keeper too!" Krillin started to laugh a bit.

"I am not fish!" Fasha screeched at him, ki flaring.

Krillin backed off, "Hey take it easy! You shouldn't be picking ones that already have a temper, Bulma and Chichi are bad enough!" he whispered to my ear.

"Oh she's pretty good about her temper, until you speak to her that is," I snickered a bit, causing Fasha's glare to shift back to me, silencing our laughter quickly. My attention was thankfully shifted away by a small pair of blurs going around the room, one tackled Goku, the other Gohan.

"Daddy, can you tell mommy to let us have some food now, were hungry!" Goten begged.

"Yeah, can you tell my mom that Gohan?" Trunks whined.

"We can try, but they'll tell us the same thing! You should know that by now," Gohan shook his head and stood back up, leaving a pouting Goten and Trunks on the ground. A knock came at the door, before opening up to a certain bald headed three-eyed human.

"Hey Tien!" Goku said in happy friendliness.

"Goku, Gohan, good to see you again. Who are these people?" he asked in surprise, drifting his gaze over my form that remained near Fasha. Unfortunately I didn't greet Tien or even heard him after that, because Videl was coming our way. I sensed Fasha tense up a bit, causing me to pay more attention. Videl stopped in front of me, giving a harsh gaze towards Fasha. I noticed Gohan look over, slightly concerned.

"Well, I can't say I agree with this whole arranged mating thing. But can we at least start over, no hard feelings?" Videl asked, holding out her hand for a shake from Fasha. _Well, that was big of her._ Fasha calmed down, but I could sense that she was ready to reject it.

"_Fasha, just accept it. I don't want to have to put up with you two fighting each other,"_ I practically begged thoughts at her, rather she heard or not.

She snorted slightly, grasping the hand and giving a hard shake, "Fine." With that done, Videl resumed her position on the other side of the room, talking to Eighteen.

"Okay boys and girls, not everyone is here yet, but we're going to start the party, please come in now!" Mom announced, opening the huge doors that were right in the middle of the lobby, going into the big chamber inside where all of them were held.

As I expected, a small stage was set up with large speakers and a light display. My music player had been plugged into the side with an extension type cord, so I would at least know where it was.

"Okay, let's break a leg!" Mom announced. The next couple hours contained memories that some to would want to forget, and others to remember. First of all, most everyone except Bardock's crew tried out a hand at Karaoke. Krillin took his turn first, singing some really strangely sounding song, but then everything that I had heard off this world's music was a bit different. Mom though demanded that I go next, and get a few out of the way, then come back for more later. I grabbed the mic slowly, picking my way through the songs I had picked out earlier.

"Come on kid, give us a good one!" Yamcha shouted. I grimaced since I knew his forte was love songs. Love songs and softer tones weren't really sounding good right now. _Guess I'll go with a slightly harder one early_. I searched through until I found the one I was looking for, one that was heavy, but no swearing whatsoever. When the music came on, the lights started up and danced around with the tune. Mom's new and improved Karaoke machine wasn't too bad, and could decipher lyrics from the song while it played, also completely taking them out if it was needed. Kind of odd, but cool, saved trouble for the artist I guess. I brought the mic to my lips, about the time when the first lyrics came on the screen for me, not that I really needed them that bad for this song.

"_I've lied, to you, the same way that I always do._

_This is, the last smile, that I'll fake for the sake of being with you…_

Everything falls apart, even the people who never frown eventually break down

_The sacrifice of hiding in a lie…_

Everything has to end, you'll soon find we're out of time left to watch it all unwind

_The sacrifice is never knowing_

_Why I've never walked away, Why I played myself this way_

_Now I see, your testing me, pushing me away._

_Why I've never walked away, Why I played myself this way_

_Now I see, your testing me, pushing me away._

_I've tried like you  
To do everything you wanted too  
This is the last time  
I'll take the blame for the sake of being with you!_

Everything falls apart, even the people who never frown eventually break down

_The sacrifice of hiding in a lie…_

Everything has to end, you'll soon find we're out of time left to watch it all unwind

_The sacrifice is never knowing_

_Why I've never walked away, Why I played myself this way_

_Now I see, your testing me, pushing me away._

_Why I've never walked away, Why I played myself this way_

_Now I see, your testing me, pushing me away._

We're all outta time, this is how we run, how we all unwind

_The sacrifice of hiding in a lie…_

We're all outta time, this is how we run, how we all unwind

_The sacrifice is never knowing…_

Thankfully it was a band I really liked and knew that Chichi might tolerate it. Apparently everyone else had a similar opinion, or in the thoughts of Fasha, of me. For some reason it really touched me when I thought about everything I had been through on this world so far, and that added emotion to the song. Once I finished, loud cheering sounded, mostly from the crew and the other Saiyans, not counting Vegeta. I smiled slightly, scrolling back up to the list I had chosen earlier. Piccolo and Dende had entered some time during my first performance, Piccolo took a spot on the wall next to Vegeta, and Dende was around Krillin and Gohan.

Yamcha whistled loudly, "Hey Verto, give the chicks a real knockout song!" Well it wasn't exactly what I would call a chick song, but it was next on what I was going to sing. But the way it started off, most of them looked as if they were going to enjoy it.

_This is my life, it's not what it was before._

_All these feelings I've shared._

_And these are my dreams, that I've never lived before._

_Somebody Shake me cause I, I must be sleepin… _

_Now that we're here, it's so far away  
All the struggle we thought was in vain  
And all the mistakes, one life contained  
They all finally start to go away  
And now that we're here, it's so far away  
And I feel like I can face the day  
And I can forgive  
And I'm not ashamed to be  
The Person that I am today_

_These are my words, that I've never said before._

_I think I'm doing okay._

_And this is the smile, that I've never shown before,_

_Somebody shake me cause I, I must be sleepin._

_I'm so afraid of waking  
Please don't shake me  
Afraid of waking  
Please don't shake me_

Unknowingly, this got admiring looks from just about every female in the room, mostly from Fasha and Videl. I noted at the beginning that the lights were killed until I started the song, but then the stage lights and something like a disco ball started up, especially on the high parts of the song, giving my little show an extra boost. When I finished the song, loud applause rang out, and I even spotted Vegeta clapping his hands a little bit.

I set the mic down and jumped off the stage and over to the tables, "Okay, someone else's turn." Yamcha went up right away, picking out some love song he thought was good, but he couldn't sing it at all. During this time I finally saw Master Roshi and Oolong show up, and right away set about drooling over the ladies. Good thing Roshi was an old master and formerly the strongest man in the world, because he had to be to survive Fasha knocking him across the room when he touched her ass. I thought about warning him first, or bashing him myself, but I did want to see the reaction. Oolong was the smarter of the two and never approached, he had seen her tail slashing angrily afterwards and just left the idea out. Roshi quit bugging the ladies after being introduced to Bardock, those two had a lot to talk about since Roshi was one of Goku's teachers. Yamcha got a few claps for his effort, but sat back down, slightly embarrassed for a bad performance. Vegeta stood up, determined scowl on his face as he headed for the stage. Instantly cameras came flying out, all wanting a good photo of this. The music came on, and Vegeta started singing along perfectly, not missing a word yet his eye remained on the lyric screen.

"_On the day I was born, The nurses all gathered 'round  
And they gazed in wide wonder, At the joy they had found  
The head nurse spoke up, And she said leave this one alone  
She could tell right away, That I was bad to the bone _

_Bad to the bone _

_Bad to the bone _

_B-B-B-B-Bad  
B-B-B-B-Bad _

_B-B-B-B-Bad _

_Bad to the bone _

_I broke a thousand hearts, Before I met you  
I'll break a thousand more Baby, Before I am through  
I wanna be yours pretty baby, Yours and yours alone  
I'm here to tell ya honey, That I'm bad to the bone!_

_I make a rich woman beg, I'll make a good woman steal  
I'll make an old woman blush, And make a young girl squeal  
I wanna be yours pretty baby, Yours and yours alone  
I'm here to tell ya honey, That I'm bad to the bone _

_And when I walk the streets, Kings and Queens step aside  
Every woman I meet, They all stay satisfied  
I wanna tell ya pretty baby, Well Ya see I make my own  
I'm here to tell ya honey, That I'm bad to the bone _

_Bad to the bone _

_B-B-B-B-Bad _

_B-B-B-Bad _

_B-B-B-Bad _

_Bad to the bone!"_

_Wow, he's good, but then I shouldn't expect anything less from him._ Hell even his voice sounded nasty enough to sing it, though it didn't match the singer's, not that anyone could tell anyway. After he finished all the cameras flashed off pictures rapidly, Mom's faster than anyone's. Though there was applause, Vegeta ignored it and sat down, closing his eyes and keeping his scowl. It was about as pleased as he was going to get over that. Many of the others were discussing how much that song sounded like Vegeta's style, and then were asking Mom where she had gotten it from, in which she pointed straight to me.

**-**

The food showed up soon, causing all eyes to be taken off the music and the stage, all Saiyan eyes anyway. In the middle of scarfing, something everyone else had to stop and stare at since there were now five more Saiyan mouths to feed. I noticed Goten and Trunks whispering to each other, before excusing themselves from the table. They were back pretty soon after that, claiming they had to use the bathroom. I ignored it and chowed down, it had been quite awhile since I had a home cooked meal, it was refreshing.

Afterwards everyone sat around and talked amongst themselves. Vegeta and Piccolo sat in the corner and stared at each other. Goku, Gohan and Bardock laughed together at some memories. The crew, minus Fasha, set about heavy drinking with Krillin and Yamcha, sharing drunken laughs. Chichi, Mom, Eighteen and Videl discussed men in general while batting away the perverts. Tien and Dende were talking with Mr. Satan, who came in a bit late. He said something about a public workout and that he left Buu and Bee at home since the wish hadn't been made yet. Something odd about Satan though, his ki was a bit higher, and it felt suppressed. I really didn't pay much heed to that, figuring that maybe he trained a bit for once. That left Fasha and I down by the artificial stream Dr. Briefs had flowing through there. But two were missing, the twin terrors of course, and that wasn't a good sign. They made their presence known soon though, because the bushes rustled behind Fasha and a stick poked out and touched her tail. The stick was vaporized pretty quick, leaving Trunks with a slightly burnt face.

"Do you mind?" she asked with a deathly glare.

"Man, you two are gross! She's gonna give ya cooties or something!" Trunks declared, jumping out fully from the bush, Goten a half step behind him.

"Well, I haven't heard any complaints from him yet. You two wanna try?" Fasha dared, even though she was just teasing.

That sent the boys into a fearful run, "Ah, she's going to infect us, head for the hills!" A trail of dust went up behind them, leaving me in shock.

"Wow, that is the most original way to get rid of those two pests," I exclaimed. That left me thinking though, _damn, it's been awhile since they pulled a prank, and reunions haven't been to good about that._ Instead the boys were on the other side of the room, not doubt planning something, but it seemed they were examining something else. Vegeta and Piccolo decided to walk up just then, nearly making me jump out of my skin as they had done it in stealth.

"Well boy, tomorrow we're going for the real mission to your planet, and we are not staying long. The Namek said there have not been any more Zerg attacks, but I still don't like the idea of leaving for long," Vegeta scowled a bit.

"The Earth's energy has slowly become more and more imbalanced, I sense something will be happening soon. During the attack on Hercule's mansion, I sensed a momentary spike before the energy on Earth started feeling, incomplete," Piccolo had a bewildered look on his face.

"Yeah, I get that every time I've come across a Zerg. They have a scattered feeling to them, and it's hard to sense them even at close range, unless there's a large group. And something else, it almost doesn't matter how strong you are because they do not rely on ki. In fact I dare say they barely have any, ki blasts tear them up pretty well. But get this, I fought several and ended up with these nasty scars. Bardock and a few of the others transformed and whooped their ass despite being much weaker than me!" Fasha hit my arm at that comment, but said nothing to the subject.

"I think that these creatures are using a different source of energy, other than physical. It could be this Psi energy you spoke of, you said the Kanassans told you that they homed in on Psi energy, and that you and Gohan both emit it. The Kai's emit that too, but none know how to control it, nor do I. I do know that ki and Psi are more often than not emitted together as a single energy; you just can't detect or use the other one regularly. This may be why they picked it up so well, especially from you. You increased your ki output and no doubt your Psi output went up, you just can't tap into it yet," Piccolo explained. I barely got all of that, but then again I wasn't Goku.

"Well either way, we will start training the other Saiyans soon. I plan to use the time chamber for a few days, though I'm not sure it will take that long. Kakarot and I will take charge of the training to get them up to Super Saiyan at least, maybe more. While we're in the chamber, you, Gohan, and the boys will have to be on guard for the Zerg. Since we don't know when the invasion is exactly, the human fighters that are not training will be on alert too, but will remain at their respective areas. I plan to start the training in the chamber after we use the dragonballs on you, which is in a few days isn't it Namek?"

Piccolo scowled, "That is correct, it isn't another two weeks like we thought. Shenron has never had to only use one wish and save the other before. No doubt he is recharging a bit faster because of it, they might even be ready tomorrow."

"Good, tomorrow you and I will head to your planet so we can get the information we need on the Zerg. While we're there I plan to unlock all that shit in your head. We all need to be experts on the subject, you just need refreshment. After tomorrow, when we return, we use the balls to make you young again to increase your potential, and that silly Buu wish that Kakarot wants to do. The day after that we train in the time chamber for as long as it takes!" Vegeta ordered. I nodded, though I could hear Fasha's thought voice pouting slightly that she didn't get two weeks with me anymore.

I chuckled at this, "_Hey, don't worry, you can have more in ten years. Well maybe less for the basics of it!"_ She slugged me in the arm again.

Vegeta only smirked at this, "I see your already getting that bond down to a science. Like I said, do not follow through with it, or I'll kill you both!" Fasha gulped, but I only nodded. I knew he wasn't serious, but I also know what hell I would be put through in the gravity room.

"_That's not the only hell you're going to go through, I hope your ready for a lack of sleep tonight!_"

"_Don't remind me Fasha. With you it'll be a miracle if the dead stay in their graves!_"

"_I'll get you for that one!_"

**-**

Piccolo then marched off, saying goodbyes to Gohan and Goku. Vegeta took his spot on the wall close to the table of chatterbox women. Tien had left as well, and Dende followed Piccolo out the door. The air felt strange once some of the stronger ki signals left, like someone who shouldn't be there was lurking around in the shadows. Eighteen got up and proceeded in smacking her drunken husband, trying to get him out of a daze as he and Yamcha tried to arm wrestle, only to fall on the ground in heavy laughter. I looked for the boys, sensing them over in the corner of the room, out of sight, but it felt like they were a bit on edge, their energy fluctuated a little bit.

"What is it?" Fasha asked.

"I don't know, something's wrong here," I said, gazing at the corner the boys were in. The ki in the air had started to break apart as the Nameks left, then even more when the human fighters left as well, leaving only those with Saiyan blood and their respective families. _Wait a sec, I know this reading._ I narrowed my field of vision, watching and sensing for any activity away from the party. Goten and Trunks were slowly coming back, but it seemed like they were barely moving in baby steps, and I sensed a slight bit of alarm and fear coming from their ki. Vegeta's eyes shot open as his ki jumped up in weariness. The room seemed to darken, maybe because of all my concentration on this one area. Others started to notice the edgy feeling in the air, and even the drunk Saiyans rose up and glanced around.

"What is it Vegeta?" Goku asked in a low tone.

"I don't know, but I think were about to find out, Kakarot," he said in a deathly calm voice. Goku and Gohan then moved over slowly in front of the still chatty women behind and to my right, though they're voices were the only ones being heard. Bardock and the crew took a position nearby the table, behind and toward my left. The boys were moving a little faster, maybe a normal paced walk. The bushes rustled slightly, and a chilly air blew through. All of a sudden the boys' ki shot up and they came flying back to our area very quickly, fear filled faces.

"What is over there brats?" Vegeta barked.

"I don't think you wanna know," Trunks said, his voice stuttering a bit.

"I wonder if that guy worked here," Goten mumbled.

"What guy?" Gohan asked this time.

"Yeah Goten, he was one of Grandpa's employees for feeding the animals in here, and now there aren't any of those either!" That was a good point, I hadn't seen any animals in here at all, and Dr. Briefs was big on those. Most of them were now kept in the other building, but he still had a few dogs and cats running around in this one. They usually staying away from visitors and hiding in the back. _The back of the room, where the animals usually are._

"Trunks, what is over there?" I asked sharply, getting his attention.

"It kinda looked like a dog, except no fur and purple skin, and really scary looking!" Goten said for him.

"_Shit!" _Both Fasha and I dared say, she had caught on to what I had been suspecting now. I powered up a bit right away, preparing for whatever had been back there. The trees started to sway like a wind had come by, except now it looked to be bending slightly, the one next to it bent to the other side. The bushes rattled some more, and I could now hear heavy breathing in the air, not belonging to any human or Saiyan in the room. Scattered ki filled the air now, and I crouched back into a fighting stance, standing in front of Fasha.

"What is it Vegeta?" Mom asked, she and the other women had finally stopped talking, noticing all the men up on their feet.

"Stay back here woman, the Zerg are here!"

**-**

The trees in front parted, and a large creature began to emerge from it. Brown and purple scales covered the beast, its huge mouth hung open as it hissed. It was about fifteen feet or so in height, and had two large claws hanging in front that could easily rip someone's head right off. It had no legs to speak of, just a snake like tail that it stood on and glided across the surface with. _Hydralisk, how the hell did it get in here? _The trees to my right opened up, and another beast poked its huge and ugly head out. The bushes stopped rustling, and several of them contained glowing green eyes belonging to a purple face. Bardock's crew was up to our position instantly. Drunk or not, every Saiyan in the room knew it was time for a fight.

"Boy, what are those?" Vegeta yelled.

"The big ones are Hydralisks, watch out for their spitting needles. The little ones are more Zerglings," I yelled back without turning. The lead bush split apart and the Zergling came out into the open, growling like crazy. Then it leapt forward, heading straight for me. It moved slowly, or maybe I was just that ready for it. Either way, when it got to me and jumped with its claws outstretched, I snatched the claw legs out of the air and smashed the Zergling into the ground. When it tried to get back up, I power kicked it in the side, sending it flying to the opposite wall and getting stuck in the side of the wall, half in and half out. It didn't try to get out, because it didn't appear to be moving. I heard a scream behind us, and turned to see a few more Zerglings coming from the back bushes, close to where Mom, Videl and Chichi had been. Vegeta was daring those to even flinch, Goku and Gohan were there as well.

"Okay guys, let's handle the big dogs!" Bardock ordered, powering up a bit. The others followed suit and we paired off a little bit. Fasha with me, Tora and Bardock, and Shugesh with Borgos, who stayed behind to handle the Zerglings that hadn't tried to come out and attack yet.

"Yo, Bardock! Get the one on the left, we'll get the right, go!" I shouted, launching into the air. Fasha followed my lead, and we flew towards the right hydra, it was busy hissing. The Zerglings started jumping out of the bushes at us, but missed when we passed by. Only one got close even to use its claws, and Fasha bashed it to the ground before it could. There were plenty of them too, probably about fifty or so, all heading for the others, right in path to the other Saiyans. With them being there, I focused on my larger target. The hydra started spitting its green needles at us, mostly me. I saw them coming and dodged aside, Fasha started to bend towards the left of the beast. I went towards the right, barely missing the slashing talon that it sent towards me. I hit a direct punch to its head, making it rock to the left a bit before coming right back to the right, as Fasha had repeated my action. Its hardened scales protected it from physical blows though, and it anything they seemed harder now, or maybe it was the fact that none of us were huge apes. I went up and down the side of the beast as well as Fasha hitting punches and kicks that had little desirable effect. Tora and Bardock were having a similar problem with the other beast, and the other two were holding off the Zerglings. The hydra was trying to whip around but we moved with it and avoided it easily. Then it tried using its tail, only for Fasha to catch and break the end over her knee. _We gotta stop this thing now._

I started to fire small, low power ki blasts at the beast. The energy made the armor like scales smoke a bit, and I heard a hiss of pain, but other than a few burn marks it didn't do much. _Damn, wish I had fought these things more last time, and I can't risk a big ki blast in here. _That thought gave the hydra enough time to spin and fire green needles at me, its mouth hanging open like a cave. _That's it!_ I dodged the slower needles and reappeared right ahead of its mouth. It fired more needles, but I fired a quick and more potent ki beam, vaporizing the needles and hitting it dead on in the mouth. The beam went down its throat, and its scattered ki started to fluctuate wildly. It hissed into the air, not trying to fight back now, and my golden ki light started to erupt from underneath its skin. Then it blew apart from the inside, sending all kinds and colors of disgusting goo in every direction. Fasha was then covered in the random innards from the hydra. I got showered as well, the lovely smell of what might have been a stomach was making me wish I hadn't eaten yet.

Bardock and Tora saw what I did and repeated the action, flying away as the beast exploded. A half dozen Zerglings surrounded Vegeta as we flew back, all of them dead and curled up in fetal positions or lying on their backs, smoking in random places. Several others were lying prone or in blast marks lay around the front area. If anyone knew better, they would say that a Zergling was trying to sing, except it was hanging off the mic, lifeless. The scattered ki feeling left as Goku punched a hole through the last one, examining the scratch one left on his arm.

"Those were the Zerg huh, nasty little freaks aren't they?" Gohan asked, no one in particular.

"Tell me about it, I'm still enjoying the little gift they gave me a few weeks ago," I said, showing off the double scar on my stomach where one had gotten a very good hit in.

"That'll teach you next time boy! This shows that the Zerg are very aware of us, and are trying to take us out before the invasion. Woman, is that old spaceship still working?" Vegeta asked.

"I'd have to make some adjustments, but yes it still works, other than fuel, why?"

"Because I need Bardock and his crew to fly into space and find out exactly how much time we have," he explained with an annoyed look. Mom looked hopeful that her inventions would be getting good use, but then stopped in mid thought.

"I have a better idea Vegeta, you guys brought your scouters back right?" she asked all of us. General nods from everyone, I had left mine in the armor casing.

"I think I can modify them to pick up only certain signals, these Zerg emit a strange energy different from everyone else right? I think I can make new scouters to pick up only them. You said it yourself Vegeta, they are hard to detect," Mom beamed at him.

"That is correct. Very well woman, work on those, maybe take a look around with one of your satellites or something as well. Can you have them done before our training in a few days?"

"I'm not a genius if I can't," Mom replied, full of arrogance.

Vegeta growled a bit at that, "Fine, inform me when you're done." With that said Vegeta left the room, heading for the gravity chamber no doubt.

"We better get going," Goku announced as he and Chichi picked up the slightly stricken Goten and headed out the door. _I guess he wants to get back to training as well._ Gohan and Videl left a few minutes later with Mr. Satan, something about a house inspection before everyone went to sleep. The crew nodded towards each other and headed out the door and down to the west wing, where Mom had established their sleeping areas.

"Isn't just like that man, to leave a huge mess in here!" Mom said in frustration, before exiting.

"Ready to lose some sleep?" Fasha whispered behind me.

I rolled my eyes, "Clean up first, I'm not sleeping like this. I'd like to find out how those damn things got in here unnoticed!" I lifted into the air and flew over slowly to the far corner where Goten and Trunks had first sighted them. There, lay several dead animals, still bleeding along with a heavyset janitor suit, worn by a half torn skeleton with flesh still hanging off of it.

"Whoa," I gasped. I looked over to see a large hole in the ground, a large and long tunnel that had been dug. _So that's how they got in, figures, Mom forgot to Saiyan proof the floor!_ Fasha was busy gaping at the extreme mutilation of the corpses.

"Come on, let's at least give them a proper burial," I said, picking up the remains and shoving them down into the hole. Fasha's thoughts ticked off sickening thoughts of vomiting once she touched the half dog that sat there.

"Just block it out, it's hurting me too," I said in reassurance, trying not to look too hard at the dead animals. _I thought I was the one who had issues with stuff like this. _

"Well most dead people I see are vaporized and was the target and or enemy, we usually left animals alone," she had a definite pause along with her statement, but that was all. She and I put the rest into the hole, watching them fall into blackness. Then I charged a small blast and fired it diagonally through the hole, so that it would tear up the dirt and mud and reseal it. For a solid minute, Fasha and I stood in silence, maybe out of respect, maybe sadness. It passed though, the stench of Zerg blood and guts started to get to our sensitive noses.

"You wanna clean up together?" she teased in only a tone she would use with me.

"Why not," I sighed, landing at the front area. I grabbed my thankfully unharmed music player, stepped over some dead Zerg and shut off the lights, closing and locking the door behind us.

**-**

"_It's my Life_" by Bon Jovi

"_Pushing me Away_" by Linkin Park

"_So Far Away_" by Staind

"_Bad to the Bone_" by George Thurgood

**A/n: Just to clear a few things up: this chapter shows exactly that the Zerg pick up on Verto's Psi energy very well, though I have shown it previously as well. However Gohan had never seen them before, showing that either they haven't hunted Gohan at all, or they'd rather go for an easier target. They have not gone for the other Z fighters because they don't emit as much Psi as the two mystic fighters do, therefore the Zerg don't consider them to be as much as a threat, even though they are. This of course could be seen as pure speculation, I have a lot of plans as this story progresses. We are getting very close to Invasion time.**

**Also there will be more songs in the mix later on, but not a lot. It'll be in the form of song-fic type chapters.**


	22. Help From Home

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**A/N: I won't go into extreme detail with this chapter, even though it would be very easy to do so. Most new characters in this chapter are real people that I've met and know personally, in which they gave permission for their appearance in this story.**

**Chapter 21: Help from Home**

Fasha didn't exactly hold true to her word, though she was prepared to. Once Vegeta broke in and yelled at us for making so much noise after eleven, we decided to stop, and thankfully that got me some more sleep. That though didn't stop her from waking me up, rather originally I might add. My dreams were pretty pleasurable, and then I saw why, she had been adding to the effect as I slept. When I gave her the half grin and half crazy look, she let go of my tail in surprise, and the other body part she was holding.

"What?" she asked with a falsely innocent face.

"Just can't get enough can you?" I chuckled into a smirk.

"Well Mister Sawing Logs, since the prince cut us short last night, I decided to catch up a little bit. I don't really care whether you were awake or not!" she grunted slightly and rose back to her position on the bed beside me. I glanced towards the clock, catching a bit of the sun coming up in the process.

"Well its dawn anyway, might as well get up for the day," I muttered and wondered over to my dresser for clothes.

"Oh don't wanna wake the house up?"

"And suffer ultimate embarrassment again, no thanks," I grinned and slipped on a pair of shorts, poking my tail through the cut out hole and wrapping it up. My grin didn't last though, I had a lot to think about, a lot of old memories were streaming through my head, and most of them revolved around a certain blue planet blowing up. I slipped an aqua capsule shirt on and searched around for my shoes, which were hiding underneath my bed next to my training boots.

"What's wrong love?"

"Nothing," I said.

"Yeah, like I'm gonna believe that! You're emitting more of that mopey sadness than Shugesh eats in a day, you're feeling guilty about something, lemme see!" I hadn't realized that I had been blocking her connection, or maybe my extreme emotions had just done it since we weren't mated yet. Whatever the case I didn't really want to show her my past.

"Fine, if you won't show me, then tell me. Just my luck I hitch onto an emotional Saiyan," she folded her arms and snorted.

"It's just that I miss my old world, my old friends and family are there. It'll be hard to go back and leave again, but then if I don't leave again I'll just end up hurting them more by failure," I stood up and shook the emotional tirade from my head, shifting it to determination.

"There we go, about time!" Fasha said, poking my side. The door swung open, revealing Vegeta, dressed in a red shirt with a black jacket and blue jeans. _Yeah the pink shirt might be a bad thing today._

"Let's go boy, get this over with," he said, leaving the door open. I waved a slight goodbye to Fasha, and followed him down the stairs. I caught up to him quickly as he was going slow.

"The woman made one more of those return bracelet things so we can get back. She's been up all night working on the Zerg scouters, with luck she'll have those completed soon," he explained. I didn't answer, knowing that he didn't require a response.

"We will keep our energy suppressed. We will also be going back about two years before Trunks appeared to you, will that be enough?" he asked.

"Yeah, that'll be good. Since we going for information, we should be able to avoid going anywhere near the other me. It'll be easier for me, though we may need to get close so I know where to go," I said softly.

"That will be fine, any particular location once we get there?"

"Yeah, I think I know a place. When I was playing this, game, I had a few friends that all lived in a certain area, and we played it over the networks. They're probably some of the best strategists when it comes to that addicting game, and we can trust them not to speak about us," I said, following into the lab where Mom was sleeping with her head rested on the table. Vegeta and I didn't make a sound as he slipped on the return device and stepped toward the chamber.

"Do we need to wake her?" I whispered.

"No, I told her we would be leaving promptly. She'll expect us to be gone, get in!" he rasped. I stepped into the time chamber with him as he punched in a familiar looking code and hit the big red and repaired button on the console. The machine started to whirl and the blue force field appeared in front of the door. The machine sound built and got rather loud, enough to wake Mom from her sleep. She only smiled and waved as Vegeta held up his wrist, showing he indeed had the return device with him. Then he suddenly bent over in slight pain, just as a wave of nausea hit me as well. The room went black and nothing could be seen or heard, except for the machine's dying sounds. Then a bright light filled my vision and the ground was replaced with dirt and very tall grass.

"She needs to work on that machine, that blasted thing about made me lose my breakfast!" Vegeta growled. We landed in a field just as before, only it was grassy and wooded. I took in a deep breath, and the fresh air filled my lungs and made me smile.

"I'm home," I said happily.

**-**

"Where are we boy?" Vegeta asked.

"No clue, other than on Earth. Looks like she landed us in a deserted area in the middle of the woods," I pointed out the tall trees that surrounded us.

"I figured that part out on my own, do you mean you never traveled your own planet?"

"I did, just not much and not that far. I couldn't always fly you know," I shrugged.

Vegeta grunted, "Well quit standing around, we need to find out where we are." He rose into the air slowly. Not five feet into the air, just above the top of the grass, loud bangs went off and a saw a few bullets go by Vegeta's head. He was down on the ground in an instant, his fists clinched and scanning around for trouble. I sensed low ki around us, human ki all around, but low regardless.

"Great, now what?" he grumbled.

"Must be hunting season. Wherever we are it must be summer time, look there goes a duck into the air," I pointed and kept my voice low. Sure enough a duck flew into the air in a flurry, another shot rang out and it dropped from the sky quickly.

"Humph, let's see those weaklings pick a Saiyan out of the air with their inferior weapons!" Vegeta challenged the air, ki rising.

"I thought we were going to keep our power suppressed? I'd rather Frieza didn't show up early you know, it would make it a little DIFFICULT!" I rasped at him. Whatever power Vegeta had let slip was quickly gone when he realized that mistake.

"Just find out where we are boy!" he growled. I led the way through the brush, scaring several animals into the air, and watched as they were shot down. I heard some rustling ahead of us, about fifteen feet. I pushed apart some weeds to see a large dog sitting there hunched over a dead duck, growling at us.

"Heh, duck doesn't sound to bad. How long would the dog last not using any power?" Vegeta smirked and cracked his knuckles.

"No wait, we should let it take the duck and follow it out for information, unless of course you want to get shot at again. Then we'd be on the six o'clock news, oh I can see that headline! Redneck hunter shoots a superhuman and doesn't even phase him!"

"Your jokes are going to get you into extra training, zip your lip!" Vegeta barked.

"Hey is someone out there?" a younger voice called out from ahead of us. The dog's tail wagged slightly as what must have been his owner came up and petted him.

"Hey folks, get stuck out here? Need any help?" He was a young guy, probably about twenty-five to thirty years of age. He wore a flannel checkers jacket, jeans and a baseball cap; and was sporting a good-sized rifle. Most noticeable though, his accent was very American, a good sign to me.

"Yeah, were a bit lost, we've been walking out here for a few days and were not sure where we're at exactly, could you tell us?"

"Oh, damn, how'd you get stuck way out here, on the road from Seattle or something?" _Washington huh._

"Yeah, the car kinda blew up on us and we had no phone and no compass. We were heading southeast towards our cousin's place. Could you point out the directions please, its hard to tell with these woods here," I quickly thought up a lie, and judging by the grunt that followed from Vegeta, it wasn't a very good one since the sun could clearly be seen.

"Yeah north is that way, east there and south there, ain't much West you can go, other than the coastline," the hunter pointed the directions out for us. Vegeta phased out behind me and chopped him on the neck in the blink of an eye. The dog started to bark, until Vegeta gave it the death glare. It shut up pretty quick and checked over its fallen owner, who was not dead, just out cold.

"We can't have anyone seeing us take off, you know where to go boy?" he asked, brushing off his black biker like gloves.

"Yeah, we go that way," I said pointing to the south and east.

"Good, take off. But do it quickly so these weaklings don't pick it up. Try not to fly too fast but not too slow either, I'll provide a distraction," he said, lifting a hand. _Oh boy_, I got into a take off position. He let loose a very weak ki wave, not even visible, but enough to make the trees around us shake a bit. With that done I tore out of the field and high into the air. I heard a few shots go off and outran a few bullets that came close, before getting into the clouds. Vegeta appeared a few seconds later, examining the bullet hole in his jacket.

"Damnit, I just bought that too!" he whined a bit.

"Guess the weaklings have a better eye than you thought," I said folding my arms.

"Shut up brat! Get going!" I shrugged and jet off to the east, careful not to release too much power for an aura to show. We rose up to about twenty-five thousand feet or so. It was enough to see a few jets above us but we stayed within the clouds when possible. Below I could see most of the state outlines, mostly highlighted by rivers. We hit Montana in about ten minutes, and I picked up on what had to be the Missouri river and started to follow that through the air.

"Where exactly are we boy? Are you sure you know where to go?" Vegeta asked as he flew up beside me, within listening range anyway.

"Yeah, we're west of my home. My friends are to the east of it. I'm following this river because I know it borders my home state on the west," I explained as we flew over the mountains.

"Are there any security systems that may detect us?" he asked while glancing around.

"You said two years right?"

"About two years boy," he grunted. _Good, that's before nine-eleven, should be easy._

"No, shouldn't be any radar or anything that would care to track us down at this point," I said calmly without detail. _But knowing Vegeta like I do, the inquiry is on its way._

"Why would that matter boy, a few years shouldn't make a huge difference?" _Yep there it is._

"I left in the year two thousand and three. There was a disaster in some of the big cities of this country two years before that, but it was late in that year. I left in the middle of that year so two years is slightly beforehand," I said.

"What kind of disaster?" he asked, curious.

"Terrorists, they suicide bombed a couple of big areas and killed a lot of people. After that security was way high and every little detail was looked into. This country's authorities would have been in the process of hunting down those responsible for it and their eyes would be open everywhere," I said, shrugging a bit.

"So a bunch of cowards took out a bunch of weaklings because they didn't like it here, pathetic!"

"Yeah that's just about right," I replied. _I suppose as long as he thinks along those lines, its close enough then to try to explain the holy war thing too. I know the subject would eventually lead there._ We came up on the North and South Dakota borders, as I was flying high enough to watch the river trail from the north. We passed over to the north of the black hills, which didn't show off much detail since we were so high up anyway. The river turned south a bit more, and we hit the end of the Dakotas a few minutes later, I followed the river until I felt I saw the highway I was looking for, before turning straight east.

"I thought we were following the river?" Vegeta asked, confused.

"Yeah, down there it cuts the border of my home state and then bends around again later on, I recognize the land area here!" I called back to him. We flew through Iowa and kept along the highway going through the middle of the state. I started slowing down as we approached Des Moines, and started to descend.

"Boy, we're not going to your home! It's too risky!"

"Do you want to find out when it is? And never mind that but I will need some directions. I couldn't always sense ki either, if you recall you're the one who taught me. I remember the city and maybe the house but not the exact route to get there, I'm trying to make this easy!" I shouted back. He grunted and complied as we came to the outskirts and flew over the city slowly. _Maybe a rest area on the highway would have been better. _I spotted a nearby gas station that looked familiar and dropped quickly so hopefully no one would notice.

"I'll meet you back up here when you get finished!" Vegeta called down to me, though I barely heard him. I landed behind the station, glancing around for any sign of notice, none. I made sure my tail was wrapped up good, before pulling my shirt over it to help cover it up, especially in the back where it looked like a badly tied knot. Then I walked around the place casually, taking notice that it was quite busy. I walked into the store and right away stole a glance at the newspaper shelf to get the date. It read: July Eighteenth, a Wednesday.

_That's a good sign, right in the middle of the summer. And it's a weekday so I would most likely be working. So I shouldn't run into myself when we find my friend's house._ A few faces glanced in my direction, and unfortunately I thought I recognized them from high school. I disregarded them and looked for a road atlas quickly. Finding one, I parked myself by the back wall near the restrooms and opened it up. I followed the highways to my destination, and then looked for the city name. I found it a minute later, hiding underneath my finger at the time. _Excellent, now I just need to remember how to get to their house and hope nothing changed. _That's when a low ki stopped in front of me, gasping slightly.

"Dave is that you?" a familiar voice asked. I glanced up and about blew my cover when I recognized him. It was a friend of mine from high school named Matt, he and I were both on the football team. Even though my face had changed slightly, my body greatly, he still recognized me. I thought up an answer slowly, trying not to make it seem as though I responded to that name.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Aren't you Dave, D.T. I mean?" _Yep, he definitely recognized me, that was an old nickname. _

"Damn you lost a ton of weight, looking good man!" I quickly bit my tongue, not sure what to say, but it had to be a lie.

"Sorry, you must have me confused with someone else, I get that a lot," I said quickly, crossing my fingers in hope. _Looks like its time for complete bullshit to come out of my mouth_.

"Oh sorry, yeah must have mistaken ya. Man that voice is even the same! For someone that looks like the guy I'm talking about anyway. He's an okay guy, a bit naïve though, never could open up on anyone, and he always got some rough treatment!" Matt said with a smile.

I smiled back, "That's okay, got mistaken for an actor one time and got pulled onto the set, that was odd," I said, making it up very fast, in full bullshit mode to help get him off the trail.

"Did the actor ever show up?"

"Yeah he did, looked nothing like me either, strange huh?"

"Yeah, well sorry about that. Catch ya another time!" Matt turned and headed for the cashier desk. I sighed heavily, _that was close, better get a move on._ No sooner than I had retraced my path on the map, a void in the ki around me appeared. It was strange though, it was like a sudden hole just opened up that I couldn't sense into, but the air around it was fine. _What the hell?_

"Hey Dave, what's up man!" I heard Matt say around the door. _Oh shit, the other me. Good going Verto, you sure can pick your spots!_ I dashed behind a snack counter and peered over to see what looked like me walk through and head in my direction without seeing me, and I couldn't sense him. _Damn, no wonder Matt recognized me, I need a haircut bad!_ I quickly circled around the counter and cashier desk, getting out of the store before the void in ki made of me came around to pay for whatever I had bought at the time. I walked quickly behind the store, slightly fearful that I was almost seen by the other me, it was almost like looking in a mirror.

"Nice going brat!" A voice behind me shouted, making me jump. Vegeta laughed at my dismay as I had landed in a fighting stance, another habit by now.

I relaxed though, "I thought you were gonna wait on me?"

"I got mixed up there momentarily, another source of strong ki showed up and I felt compelled to investigate. I figured you would notice as well, until I realized that you would not sense it. I'm sure you saw him," Vegeta kept his smug look.

"Yeah you could say that. First I got recognized, then actually saw the other me walk through the door, he didn't see me though," I explained, watching his amused look with disgust when he started laughing.

"What?" I asked, frowning.

"You were quite the bulky one weren't you?"

I blushed slightly, "You know I lost a bunch of that shortly before Trunks showed up! Why does it matter anyway? Let's just get going!" I sighed and rose into the air, blasting off quickly.

"I suppose you could blame a lot of that on the appetite, were you that big before you grew up?"

"I was actually pretty damn small at fourteen years. But then I grew out fast afterwards," I explained, not happy with his questions.

"I noticed. I wonder if that's a trend in the making," Vegeta chuckled some more while following as we rose high again.

**-**

I passed over my home city quickly. As bad as I wanted to stop, it would only bring more pain and suffering if I did. I concentrated on keeping my ki low for the whole time while watching the roads below. According to Vegeta, if I kept it around the twenty-two hundred level we established on planet Vegita, then Frieza would probably not pick us up. He kept his lower than mine in the same manner. We reached the end of the city and I picked up some speed, ducking in and out of clouds. We reached what I called the muddy Mississippi a few minutes later, and I spotted the highway I wanted to follow next. Another twenty to thirty minutes went by and we entered the airspace above Ohio, where I had to keep a good eye peeled.

"How far now boy?" Vegeta asked, as he had been quiet for a long time.

"It's not far now, I'll have to drop lower though to see the exit sign on the highway. All these little towns look the same you know," I said.

"Humph, nothing but weaklings with no ki."

"Weakling that are going to help us, stop whining!" I said as I dropped from the high sky. After we passed the largest city and I was back to following the highway, I held a position about five hundred feet off the ground for two reasons. First of all, I couldn't see the road signs worth a damn if I was any higher, and secondly, someone would see me if I was any lower. Then I sped up a little bit, reading the exit words quickly as I flew over them. _Now if I recall, it's almost exit number two hundred exactly._ It wasn't quite that, more like two hundred and two, but it was fine. I turned to fly over that road, as twisty and crooked as it was. I kept above the trees that grew in that area, but kept close enough to watch the road. One town passed by, but I knew it wasn't the one I wanted. Another few minutes passed and I came up to a big turn in the road, a big brown sign had Woodsfield written all over it.

"Excellent," I said aloud, before passing over the big hill that the road went around. On top of the next hill, I found the McDonalds I expected to find, and the street I was looking for was only a little bit away. Sure enough I passed over the small town full of bars and found the street I had turned on so long ago, spotting the large white house a few blocks down quickly.

"See that white house Vegeta, that's where we need to go!" I said, looking up at the sun and seeing about what time it was. Since we had crossed a few time zones it would be different. It looked to be later afternoon, and if memory held true, they would be home and gaming by now.

"Well hurry up boy, I'm getting hungry!" Funny he should say that, because then my stomach growled violently.

"They have any decent food around here?"

"Probably not and not enough to even hold us over," I said, dropping out of the sky.

"In that case, keep your ki where it is. I'm going to get some food somewhere!" Vegeta announced, his aura appeared and he blasted off in another direction. _So much for hiding power. _Something felt oddly familiar about this whole routine though, even though I knew I had never done it. That and I was a bit nervous on how they would react.

-

I landed outside the white house, sensing several low ki signals inside. I ducked around the side and listened in on a familiar looking window. I heard three distinct voices, and thankfully all of them I recognized right away. _Good maybe this will be easy, then again, maybe not. _I walked around the back to the door I knew they used more often, and slowly knocked while shouting through the open screen.

"Hello, anyone around?"

"Dave, is that you?" I heard an answer right away.

"Yeah," I called back.

"Damn, I just talked to you on the phone a while ago! Did you lie when you said you were at home or something?" I cringed, _Shitty timing again!_ I sensed the person I was speaking to get up and come around the corner.

"It's not exactly what you think okay?" I said.

"What's that?" he asked, and then he turned the corner and saw me by the door.

His eyes shot open a bit, "What the hell happened Dave? Have liposuction or something?"

"No John, I wouldn't put it that way. You might need to take a seat for this," I sighed. The other two extremely familiar people rounded the corner and dropped their two jaws.

"Eric, Glenn, what's up?" I asked with a smile.

-

Needless to say, it was a long explanation, and none of them bought what I said until I made a ki ball and let it float around the air for them to see.

"Believe me now?" I asked. I had filled them in with the full details, warning them not to say a word about it to anyone, especially the other me.

"Whoa, dude, I thought you were just fuckin with us!" Eric said, looking for the nearest beer bottle and taking a swig of it.

"No, I'm totally serious. You've watched the anime before haven't you?" I whispered, though Vegeta was nowhere around.

"Yeah once or twice, but damn I never thought anything like that could be real," John said, looking quite perturbed.

"Well, alternate dimensions and realities do exist, as well as dragonballs. Hell, I've died once already and come close several other times," I chuckled slightly.

"It's just so hard to believe that's all, sure that little light ball was real enough, but still hard to believe," Eric said, taking another sip of his beer.

"Would you believe this then?" I asked, lifting my shirt a little and letting my tail loose, watching it swish into the air and pull around to the front in full view. Eric and John paled, Glenn fainted on the spot.

"It's official, I drank too much!" Eric said, putting down his beer.

I smirked slightly, "No, I've seen you drunk and you're not even close yet." Eric backed up a step, as did John in the other direction.

"Guys, I'm not going to hurt you or anything. I'm still the same Cobra you always knew, and I came here for a reason. Instead of just hitting home, I needed your expertise on something!" When I said the name Cobra, both of them relaxed a bit. It was my old nickname whenever I played internet games with them, and sometimes they had called me by that instead of my regular name.

"What is it you need our help on? How to hack a computer system instead of destroy it with a touch?" Eric muttered. _Well, this is going real smooth, now I'm getting the freak treatment._

"No guys, all that alternate universe stuff I just said, well there's one for the Zerg too. You know, the ones off Starcraft. I've fought some of them too! And they're nasty, I just can't remember the different types and shit since it's been so long since I played that game!"

"You actually fought Zerg huh? Beat em to a pulp right?" John said.

"Not exactly, their tough to fight, I've got scars to prove that. Zerglings are the size of big dogs with big claws and teeth, I can tell you that. The Hydra's do spit green shit at you also, and they are huge, you guys gotta believe me!" I was almost begging now.

"Show us your scars then," John said, looking interested and disgusted at the same time. I lifted my shirt again to expose my muscled up chest and stomach, and revealed the two still healing deep scars that were easily an inch wide. That particular Zergling had really torn a chunk or two out of me.

"Whoa, bet that hurt!" Eric said, looking at it closer.

"Yeah it did, I almost bit the big one again when that happened a few weeks ago. The little bastard that did it got his though," I said.

"So you just need a refresher on the Zerg, that's all?" John asked.

"Yeah that's about it, I suppose I could play a few rounds if I can remember how," I grinned slightly and rubbed the back of my head.

**-**

I was amazed to find how much I remembered on how to play Starcraft. It was almost too good to be true as my hand took the mouse like a pro.

"You sure you needed a refresher?" John chuckled from another computer in the room.

"Yeah, I need to see how these things fight again, they are hard as hell to predict when you're fighting them for real and not by computer. I don't wanna be hit by another Kamikaze Zerg and get taken out of the air again!"

"You mean a Scrounge?"

"Yeah whatever they are," I said in disgust. It only took a game or two to see and remember how to do everything again. Then just because I was being nice about it, I played a few more with them to prove I really was the person I said to be. That was confirmed finally when John attacked my city on the screen and it backfired in his face.

"Damn, you really are Dave. Only he would know that I was going to do that and have an answer like that one!" Eric finished the game a few minutes later, catching me with my pants down so to speak. Glenn still hadn't woken up from his nap, and lay passed out on the floor.

"You got it down now?" John asked.

"Yeah, but could you burn me a copy of Starcraft, I'll need it!"

"Yeah sure, no problem, should only take about ten minutes," John said, exiting the game and getting out a pack of disks to copy with.

"So where's the guy you came with?" Eric asked as we stepped over Glenn's corpse.

"He's hunting down something to eat, we both kinda eat a lot and we haven't eaten yet today. At least I haven't," I explained. As if on cue, I sensed Vegeta approach and touch down just outside the door.

"Brat, come here! I've got food!" I heard him shot through the door. My stomach growled at the word food, and it took into autopilot and went straight for the door.

"Is that who I think it is?" Eric whispered.

I nodded sharply, "Hey, don't mention anything about the anime. He doesn't know about that!" I whispered back. Eric followed me towards the door, John soon after once he had started the burning process.

"I see you found your acquaintances, get anything done while you were here?" Vegeta asked as we stepped out. He had opened a capsule just as we came out, and there were several dead animals, mostly deer, lying in the grass.

I stepped out un-fazed by the animals there, "Yeah, got a complete refresher on the Zerg."

"Everything?"

"Just about, the only thing of course is actual size of the blasted things. It is after all a two-dimensional view from the top," I said, taking a seat and grabbed the nearest deer he had set out. I concentrated my ki into nothing but heat and fired a blast onto the deer, cooking it instantly and leaving smoke and steam behind. I tore off the upper skin and bit into the now cooked meat rather harshly, my stomach was driving me now. I polished off all the meat on the deer in about ten seconds, leaving a few jaws on the ground when I started on the next one.

"Holy shit!" Eric said as he stared.

"What, you got a problem with Saiyan habits?" Vegeta asked, death glaring.

"No, it's just a little excessive!" Eric claimed as he backed up a step, fully realizing exactly who this was.

Vegeta smirked at the fear coming off of Eric, "I thought not." Eric was the braver one of the group, saying whatever he wanted to whomever he wanted, much like myself. But he was smart enough to realize what would happen if he crossed Vegeta. The meal was finished quickly; Vegeta had brought back about twenty deer and ten large rabbits. Not that it made a difference, we were still hungry, but not as bad now. Then Vegeta wanted to see us play Starcraft, interested with seeing the rest of the Zerg types. So we showed him, but he never played a single game, only watched.

"Humph, those are the disgusting creatures alright," he snorted when he saw a Zergling on the screen. The next two hours or so was spent on games, with Vegeta watching and slowly catching on. He even pointed something out that I missed, and ever the brilliant strategist that he was, he was right on the money with it. Eric was not too pleased as it was the back entrance to his base, and I wiped it out quickly.

"Were you looking at my screen?"

"What? No! Basic strategy was drilled into me at a young age. The boy is pretty good as it is, but he wasn't taught to look for hidden things, like how to strike when your opponent does not expect it, and with what he doesn't expect!" Vegeta death glared at Eric, who just turned back around and salvaged what he could of a losing game. A few more games after that, Vegeta was almost an expert at it, from a Zerg and human standpoint anyway. There was a third race on the game called Protoss, but neither Dabura nor Shin had warned me about them. I relearned them anyway, remembering that they used artificial Psi for power and the Zerg homed in on that kind of energy. It kind of made sense in a way. After Vegeta was somewhat satisfied, he demanded we leave, but not before giving a harsh warning to John and Eric, Glenn was still not awake.

"Listen you two, you did not see us or our abilities here. It would severely alter the future if you spilled beans, especially to the other version of him. He needs to know nothing! Understood?" Two grim and nervous nods followed as Vegeta walked out the door.

"Sorry, he's a bit rough around humans, but don't say anything okay? We need to get going now, for all we know the Zerg are getting ready to attack again. They have this obsession with getting me out of the way first," I rolled my eyes slightly.

"No problem, take care of yourself. We'll see you again right?" Eric asked.

"Hopefully, but the next time you do, it won't be this version of me. Try to act somewhat surprised about the whole thing okay?" I asked with a smile, turning around.

"See ya!" John called out.

"Yeah, later!" I said, walking out the door with CD in my hand.

"Oh wait," Eric said suddenly.

"What's up?" I asked. He handed me a thick book with the title Starcraft.

"This might have better information, it even has their sizes in there!"

"Oh thanks, we'll need that, I'll see ya again sometime, I promise!" I said.

"Think you can teach me some of this stuff sometime? You know, the whole fighting and flying thing? I mean I can kick-box and stuff but it doesn't even compare," he asked.

"We'll see," I said with a slight grin. Outside Vegeta stood with a scowl that seemed to tear the evening air.

"Done with your sentimental rubbish boy?"

"Yeah, let's get going, hopefully the time travel won't screw these up!" I said, holding up the burned copy of Starcraft and the book.

"Strange though, when I visited them with Trunks, well they didn't seem that surprised. Guess that was why," I muttered, then frowned in sadness, as right after I had seen them, the Earth had been destroyed.

"Whatever boy," Vegeta grunted, putting a hand on my shoulder as he activated the return device.

**-**

The return trip was almost the opposite of the first run. The bright lights appeared alright, then the nausea, then pitch black, then bright again as we saw a blue barrier spinning around as we had come to the inside of a metal chamber. _Well it least my appetite is gone now._

"Hey you're back!" Mom called and waved as we stepped from the time chamber. I took a quick glance at the data disk, and saw it remained unharmed, at least from what I could tell.

"You're just in time, I just finished the Zerg scouters! Want to test them?" she looked hopefully despite Vegeta's scowl of death. She held a few of them out, I took one with a green screen, Vegeta a red one. I turned it on as I relaxed a bit and let loose my hidden ki as we were back on the Z Earth. The scouter beeped a few times, running what seemed to be a diagnostic on itself for the user, then it circled around something and pointed to the west.

"Zerg signals located, about twenty-five thousand miles to the east-southeast. Be careful babe!" the computer voice sounded like Mom.

"So I added my own personal touch to it!" Mom giggled slightly.

"Woman, do you have a long range sensory device you could scan for Zerg with?"

"I thought you would never ask. I already made the correct modifications to my old one, I can have a readout in a jiff!" Vegeta and I followed her to her main super computer and she began punching random buttons. A huge ki popped up in the room, belonging to Goku and Gohan via Instant Transmission.

"Hey guys, we sensed you return, all go well?" Goku asked in his cheerful tone.

"As well as expected Kakarot, we're scanning for Zerg signals in space presently," Vegeta said sharply, not taking his eyes off the screen. A picture of the solar system popped up, and then a large purple dot appeared not far away. Somewhere between Saturn and Jupiter and moving just slightly.

"Oh no guys, according to this, we only have five days until the Zerg forces on the screen there arrive. My gosh there must be close to a million of them!" Vegeta's scowl deepened, Goku switched to confused and Gohan to determined.

"So that's what that little dot is huh?"

"Shut your incompetent mouth Kakarot, and you three come with me to the gravity chamber! We have some training to catch up on and some planning to do. Woman, contact everyone to meet here tomorrow after we summon Shenron and use the wishes, we will discuss battle plans there! Get all the information you can, concerning weaknesses in the known Zerg and where they may land at, I would like to know if conventional earth weapons work on these blasted beasts, come you three!" Vegeta ordered, walking out of the room.

"Go on guys, I can handle things here!" Mom said, shoeing us out in a hurry as I handed her the disk and the book.


	23. Pre Invasion

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 22: Pre Invasion**

I stumbled out of the gravity chamber six hours later, feeling the effects of Vegeta's word. Vegeta had taking it up to five hundred time times gravity just as he promised, no doubt due to my constant jokes. That and a power punch from a Super Saiyan three at that gravity really hurts! Gohan was in similar shape in that department, Goku put him through the wringer as far as training goes, but that was expected. We weren't allowed to power up to full because Vegeta suggested it would pay off more. The plan was simple though, Vegeta and Goku would take the other Saiyans to the time chamber for training for a few days, and the last day would be used as rest and final planning.

"So why don't we all just go to the time chamber now anyway? Wouldn't that be easier, and things get done faster?" I had asked, dodging a punch from Vegeta.

"Because boy, if we don't make you young again first, well you probably would not survive the next night," he smirked slightly.

"What do you mean by that?"

"The transformation back to a child will make that bond you've started subside instantly. Whenever mates or future mates are apart for a long time, they tend to want each other pretty bad. Your mate would be much stronger when she came back, get my drift?" _Oh that's what he meant._ I nodded, parrying a kick and punching towards his face, then turning to spin kick.

I sighed slightly while sticking that part of the conversation into the back of my head. I looked around the halls, using my ki sense for all it was worth at the moment, until catching something way down the hall.

"Where is everyone?" Goku asked.

"The brats are over at your place, no doubt that harpy mate of yours has bashed them over the head a few thousand times by now. The woman and the other Saiyans are down in her lab," Vegeta said calmly, walking in that direction. We followed, before Mom came running out and up to us, quite an excited look on her face. In her hands she held a large and fancy looking pistol, the barrel had to have been about eight inches in length, one in diameter. She met us right in front of the party room that we had closed up.

"Hey guys, check out my newest invention! This will fry some Zerg for us!" Mom held out the pistol, letting us look it over.

"What is that inferior weapon woman? We have no need for such things when our fists can move mountains!"

Mom frowned, "As I recall hearing, you wanted to know if conventional weapons worked on the Zerg, well they don't really! So I made one that does, observe!" She hit the button on the door, opening up the party room that hadn't been touched since the Zerg had gotten in there. It was dark inside, till she hit the lights, but no scattered ki showed up, nonetheless there were still dead Zerg everywhere. She picked out a Zergling that was lying on its back with its feet in the air and fired. A red beam shot out of the pistol and struck the ling, and damn near vaporized it on the spot. She picked out another one, firing and it exploded quickly without much of a hit. Vegeta looked slightly amused, Goku and Gohan impressed as Mom just turned back for opinions.

"I have to hand it to you woman, you know how to make Zergling stew pretty well," Vegeta snorted slightly.

"Well I'm making new and harder armor for everyone, and I plan to include these little toys to come with them on a holster. I don't care if you don't use them Vegeta, but think of it this way: Run out of energy and it might be something to consider, we're not exactly facing one warrior here. My dad is starting on making a bunch for the King's armies!" she screeched slightly at the end.

"Fine woman, just don't give any to the brats," Vegeta grunted and left the room quickly, in search of food.

"What do you call that little thing Bulma?" Gohan asked.

"About time someone asked, I really don't know what to call it Gohan. Maybe a Zerg buster or something?"

"Maybe, does it run out of power at all?" I asked.

"Only if the sun get completely blocked out, or its nighttime. It has solar panels installed on the top and on the handle, and it has a back up battery. But that won't last but a few shots past the normal charge up, so you've got to be careful. On a full charge you could probably get about thirty shots off before you need to let it charge back up, if the sun is out then it charges quickly. I figured if you guys didn't use these, then we weakling humans could at least right?"

"Thanks Bulma, we'll give them a shot at least," Gohan said before walking towards the door, "C'mon Dad, you know how Mom is around dinner time!"

Goku quit idolizing the weapon and quickly looked fearful, "Coming!" We watched the two run out the door, before my own stomach signaled it needed food. I sensed Fasha and Bardock coming down the bending halls towards us, along with the rest of the crew behind them.

"What's up guys?" I asked.

"We were studying some of the schematics Bulma had managed to figure out in according to that disk and book you brought back, and by using long range scans, we managed to decipher all the different Zerg types. It is a little difficult to imagine these things in a game meant for amusement, but your computer was able to compute the results rather accurately," Bardock began.

"Well I am a genius you know! Think of it as a good way to come up with a battle plan! When we meet everyone here tomorrow I'll give a presentation on them with the kid!"

"You're making it sound like a press conference, you remember the last one we had here?" I chuckled. Before I could react, a certain metal device clanged over my sore head.

"And that was yours and Trunks' fault! Oh yes, Vegeta told me about that, little sneaks!"

"Hey I'm not the one that blew up all the reporters!"

Mom calmed herself and put the frying pan away, "Good point, and Vegeta isn't the master of control is he?" The crew remained silent, maybe out of respect, or maybe they didn't want to taste metal. On cue though, six stomachs growled, signaling what everyone was thinking.

"I suppose your ungodly appetites need cleansing now? The robots should be about done anyway, if Vegeta hasn't scarfed it all. Go on, get going!"

-

The crew walked down the hall for food quickly, though Fasha and I took our time.

"Hope you're ready for tonight?" she said slyly.

"What's tonight?" I asked, though I shouldn't have.

"Well, since it's our last night like this, I figured we would enjoy it," she hinted big time.

"I don't know if I can move," I laughed a little, "Vegeta wiped me out in that gravity room!"

"Oh that's okay, you don't need to move, but you'll be wiped out even more! You won't have trouble sleeping after tonight, I guarantee it!" _Great,_ I thought, full of sarcasm.

"Oh shut up, you like it and we both know it!" _Good point._

"Well when you're up there in the time chamber and training to become a Super Saiyan, remember, the change only comes in response to a need, not a desire. No doubt Goku and Vegeta will tell you that, but if you want a good example, picture a Zergling or Frieza killing me for instance, and picture that over and over until the rage takes over. My first transformation was like that, a bad dream got to me and I transformed," I suggested.

Fasha looked slightly worried about that, "Will I really be gone for a year and only a day will pass here?"

"Two years according to Vegeta, two days."

"You know I'm gonna ride you like no tomorrow when I get back?"

I chuckled, "I doubt it, Vegeta said that the youth change will break that up. Good thing too because I doubt my child body could handle you!"

She punched my arm playfully, "I'll remember that you little worm!"

-

We came into the kitchen, seeing everyone had just set down and were munching already, and we jumped in. Afterwards I was feeling even more whipped, but the meal felt good to get down and recharge my energy, enough to get to bed before it was zapped away again by Fasha. Luckily for me, or maybe not, I fell asleep due to exhaustion right in the middle of the action.

"Typical male," Fasha pouted as I woke up next to her around dawn.

"What now?" I had a nagging headache.

"Falling asleep in the middle of fun, oh well, I guess I am a lot of woman for you shorty!"

"Thanks future mate, I'll remember that," I muttered, getting a slap to the face an instant later.

"Oh I just know my hair will be graying out while I'm waiting on your piddly ass to get older again!"

"Does that mean I can call you an old maid?" I cracked, getting another hand to come across my cheek. The door slammed open, revealing Vegeta with a familiar looking device in his hand.

"Get up and dressed boy! Time to go Dragonball hunting! Fortunately Kakarot and the brats saved us some trouble and found four of them last night, so we only need to find three! Well, what the hell are you waiting for, we have training to do!"

"Do you mind?" I asked, blushing horribly under the blankets.

"Hurry it up then brat!" Vegeta stormed out and down the stairs, ki flaring dangerously.

"Gotta go," I shrugged and got up, noticing Fasha had hooked my tail around hers. I carefully untangled them and dressed in training pants and a muscle shirt. Slipping on my boots, I saw the great look of disappointment in Fasha's eye, obviously she was dreading this day.

"Well, see what you got yourself into?" I laughed and slugged her shoulder slightly, getting a small smile in return. She jumped up and gave me more than just a playful peck on the cheek, more like the make out session of ages.

"Go do what your meant to do, I'll be waiting here!" She remained in my room as I shut the door and headed downstairs. In the lobby stood Vegeta, Trunks and Gohan, all looking ready to go, Gohan sported a bag with four balls inside, no doubt other dragonballs. To this point, I hadn't even seen the Earth balls for my own eyes, only the Namek balls a few days ago. He set the bag down and emptied its contents onto the lobby table, before picking up the bag again.

"Okay brats, the nearest one is located about five hundred miles in that direction, Trunks and I will get that one. The other two are pretty close together, you and Kaka-brat there can get those two, about twenty-five hundred miles in that direction!" Vegeta pointed to the southeast, and then headed out the door, Trunks in tow.

"Well bro, we got partnered again. Let's do it!" Gohan smiled and took off out the door into the air, I followed just a half step behind.

**-**

About an hour later we got within a mile of the first Dragonball. We hadn't gone as fast as we could have, but we weren't going slow either.

"The ball is almost directly below us in that forest, let's split up and look around!" Gohan suggested, dropping into the treetops. I sighed and did the same, careful not to scare the life out of a few birds and monkeys that had taken up residence there. I searched left and Gohan right. I right away looked through the trees as I came down, but no sign of a small orange ball with a red star, so I started pushing through the shrubs. A few animals scampered away as I did, searching the first of what had to be a dozen or so thick bushes. So far no sign of anything out of the ordinary, so I moved on. After the fifth bush, I started to wonder if it was there at all. Then I bumped a hard rock, one that was quite smooth and hidden. I pushed some leaves and branches aside to see a bright glow of orange shine off of it.

"Gohan, I found it!" I was reaching for the ball, careful so not to damage the bush too badly, when the leaves ahead of me parted, and a large and wet snout came sniffing through. The eyes that followed were big and brown, to match the big face and brown fur behind it. It opened its mouth and attempted to take the ball. I quickly grabbed the ball and yanked it out before the bear's jaws could close and started running crazily back towards Gohan, who was also running from a bear and headed right towards me with his bear in pursuit. I looked back to see mine still giving quick chase. Gohan and I gave each other a quick glance, before meeting at the middle and taking off into the air. The result left two bears lying on the ground, seeing stars.

"Sorry about that guys!" Gohan apologized, whereas Vegeta would have blasted them to hell. I shook my head and handed him the ball, he pocketed it in his now empty backpack.

"Now for the next one, according to the radar its about fifty miles that way!" Gohan said, putting the radar away in his pants pocket. We blasted off in the southerly direction, leaving the forest quickly and entering a grassy plain with little in the way of trees. As we got within ten miles of the ball, I sensed something strange. It wasn't ki, well it kind of was, but the feeling was coming from the ground. I looked down and gasped to see that the grass was withering away right below me, and quickly. As we got closer, Gohan started to notice it as well, and we were both surprised when we reached a barren area in the middle of the plains, but the dirt wasn't brown. Instead of brown dirt and dead grass, there was only a smelly purple substance that seemed to take place over the ground, living on its own, and I recognized it very well. Soon scattered ki filled my senses, and Gohan's head snapped up in confusion.

"Gohan, how far away is the ball?" I asked.

He pulled out the radar again, "Just a few miles ahead!"

"I was afraid of that, the Zerg must have grabbed the Dragonball and have it somewhere around here!"

"How do you know?"

"You see that purple crap on the ground, the Zerg build their structures on that shit, not to mention that stuff kills off the surrounding lands!"

"So we should blast that stuff off?" Gohan looked confused.

"It won't do any good. We have to destroy the structure that maintains it, and then it will vanish on its own. I'm betting we'll find that and the Dragonball in the base, look there's more of it!" Sure enough we began flying over a huge purple plain, and I started to see small buildings setting atop the dead ground.

"The ball is in that main structure up ahead, the largest one. Aw, man, how are we gonna get in and get it out unnoticed?"

"We don't, we'll have to force our way in and get our hands dirty! C'mon Gohan, we can do it, these freaks aren't here for friendly chats, and its time for a warm welcome!" I said, powering up a bit and blasting ahead. I was a bit anxious to fight them this time, more confident that I could take them without mistakes.

"Verto wait! Let's think this through!" Gohan shouted up, before repeating my action to catch up. We landed outside the largest building, also known as the primary hive cluster. Around us were Zerg drones, peasants so to speak, conducting typical activity, no warriors to speak of.

"Okay, I was sort of expecting a party down here," I said, scanning around. Scattered ki was all around, and it was more like a static TV after the channels go out, hard to pinpoint even the basic drones. I looked above to see a large flyer of some kind that sported large tentacles and antennae. I knew this to be an Overlord, a form of control for the Zerg when they had a large army underway. The Overlord then uttered a low rumble that reminded me of a foghorn. And instantly there were tons of Zerglings, Hydras and a few other types surrounding us, all of them were covered in purple dirt and a dug out hole beneath them.

"Nice way to stay hidden," Gohan said, dropping into a fighting stance. I dropped back as well, back-to-back with Gohan and watching for the first attacker. All of the minions were hissing loudly, but none had made a move yet, though the closest one couldn't have been eight feet away.

"Okay, what now," Gohan said.

"What else, fight our way through of course!" I said with pride.

"I don't know if you noticed, but there's about a hundred of them! Surely there's a diplomatic way to do this!"

"The scars on my chest will be on yours if you tried that," I said, letting my energy rise further, but not quickly. The hissing and growling continued, but not one made a move.

"Listen, we just want the Dragonball, and we'll leave!" Gohan shouted aloud. The response he got was louder hissing, snarls and growls.

"Happy Gohan?" I asked.

"So these are the warriors that are to be the thorns in the side of my master? Not as impressive as I expected, but then Majin Buu didn't seem like he would be much either now did he?" Someone called out. It was a strangely female voice that spoke from the Zerg pack. The Zerg slowly separated for a small figure with many appendages. It was a female, skin color green with a tight and black body suit that seemed to be made of dark scales. Her hair was barely even that, each strand was thick and layered, sticking out like dreadlocks straight outwards and in random directions. Her arms sported large and very lethal looking claws. Her lips were dark purple, and her face covered on the sides with dark colored blood vessels. Her back was laced with blade-like talons that almost looked like wings, but were not. But the most fearsome part of her had to be her eyes. The eyebrows were drawn upwards in either direction, and the shadow from her hair covered everything but her eyes themselves. They were an evil yellow that seemed to make my heart stop in fear. Something was very odd about this one; I could sense a distinct energy signal within her scattered feeling.

"But then again, Buu did wipe out the first half of my expedition before I could actually get here! Curse that Babidi for blocking our Nydus warp gate!"

"Warp gate?" Gohan stuttered.

"Why yes little Saiyan, that is correct. We had instant transportation set up to this location for our entire race to invade from, but that damned wizard beat us to the punch and destroyed this end of it so he could revive Majin Buu before we got here to stop him. Once Buu was released, my master the Overmind decided that Earth could wait, as it was about to be blown up by Buu anyway. That's when we got the first signal, one that I believe came from you," she said as she pointed to Gohan.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that little power signal that is unique to you, well not as much anymore. This one also emits that power, and it is the power we search for constantly!" she explained, pointing to me as well.

"She means our mystic powerup Gohan, it emits Psi, the energy I told you about earlier," I said, not taking an eye off the Zerg woman.

"Very good young Saiyan. All beings emit Psionic energy, which is spiritual in nature. But there are no beings in this part of your universe that should have this much coming off of them. Majin Buu and the demon King Dabura were the only ones we knew about, and they are both gone now. Then you two come along, strong as it is and capable of defeating many Zerg warriors easily with your basic ki. Psi is a deeper energy that is hard to find. We have discovered your inner potential and deducted that you two would begin learning your Psi control soon, as you're already emitting a great amount of it. My master the Overmind has determined that you two now have two options," she stated, hands on her hips.

"And those are?" I asked in a rather nasty voice.

She wasn't affected by my tone in the least, "You can join our great family now, we would use you to increase the overall strength or the Zerg greatly. You two would become loyal servants of my master the Overmind and would receive full knowledge on use of your Psi. That will in turn allow you to advance further as warriors since both ki and Psi can be mixed together. Or there's option two, the one where you foolishly oppose our cause, try to battle us and end up getting killed, then forced to become our servants anyway. Trust me, you don't want option two. If you willing to join us now, you won't have to be put through the torture of soul binding to the Overmind!" she stepped a little closer.

"Hand ourselves over, or risk opposition huh?" Gohan asked. She nodded and grinned slightly.

"_You ready for this, it's going to be ugly!"_ Gohan thought at me.

I grinned, "_Do you even have to ask?"_

"After careful consideration, I think we'll gamble on option two!" Gohan said as he and I started ki blasting all around us. This wasn't what the female Zerg expected, and narrowly missed being hit by a blast. A Zergling had jumped in front of her and got blasted instead.

"Take this freaks!" I shouted, powering more ki and letting loose a rapid-fire rampage. Zerglings dropped like flies around us before they could get closer, bodies littered the ground quickly. The Zerg woman had disappeared into the crowd of Zerg that rushed towards us, only to get plastered down by our ki blasts. Pretty soon the bodies stacked up, Gohan and I weren't taking chances on just injured Zerg and were not holding much back on our ki blasts. Then the Zerg numbers seemed to double and come at us quickly, making us revert to brute fighting. I punched one Zergling straight in the jaw, dislocating it instantly before planting a boot right through its stomach and chest area, killing it instantly. I kicked the dead Zergling off my boot and into another one, knocking it away. I sensed the girl's ki come back towards us, but I had to focus on the Zerglings so they couldn't get their claws on me.

Suddenly the air's energy shifted greatly, and energy I could see but not sense seemed to appear in the form of blue lightning. It wasn't static lightning though, as I could sense that. _No this is much different_. The lightning surrounded us and all the close proximity Zerglings growled in pain before exploding harshly. Then the blue lightning bore down on us and struck my limbs. _Oh crap, it's a Psi Storm!_ Right away I screamed in pain along with Gohan, and the energy burned into my skin, before leaving a numbing sensation as it shocked us. The Psi lightning continued around us, striking in various places, head included. I tried to power out of the attack, but it struck me down hard before I could get my bearings. I felt something smack the back of my head and I was out like a light. The last thing I remember was Gohan landing beside me and that horrible stench of the purple ground.


	24. Dabura's Daughter

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 23: Youth Restored**

I awoke bound to a brown and slimy wall, my hands and legs strung up very tightly by some sort of green weed. I tried to pull it out but the weeds held tight.

"No use. I haven't tried while powered up yet, but these weed things are pretty strong," Gohan said beside me, tied up in the same fashion. We were in a small and slimy chamber with brown walls and a purple floor, everything in there seemed to be alive and dead at the same time.

"So should we power up to full and bust out? That would make sense, and it would more than likely alert Vegeta and the others even if we didn't escape! Trust me, I know the Zerg can't handle us at even half power, we would tear this place apart!"

"Hold on, we're still after the Dragonball," Gohan said, looking around. He didn't have to look far, because the far wall seemed to open up and the Zerg woman came through it with the Dragonball and a few Zerglings. Gohan fortunately had pocketed the other one in a capsule when we started seeing Zerg signs, so the other one was safe as long as he still had that capsule. She tossed the ball up and down, catching and throwing again.

"I don't really see what is special about this thing, but I do detect some kind of mystical energy around it. I'll have to study it further after the conquest of earth," she said, tossing the ball to the ground on the side of the room. She came closer; her feminine features were more than obvious despite the green skin, though I was beginning to feel sick just at the sight of her. She held out a claw from her arm, it seemed to swish up on her command. She ran it down the side of my cheek and neck, making my spine quiver a little bit.

"Humph, seems much too fragile to hold so much power, but then that's what they thought of me too," she grinned, showing off green teeth.

"You were infested huh, what were you originally?" I said in a low voice.

"_It's time for twenty questions Gohan, she was spilling beans earlier, let's see what another round will turn up. Then we power up to full and get the hell outta here!"_ I suggested telepathically. Gohan sent a silent acknowledgement.

"Funny you should say that, I wasn't exactly normal to begin with. I was born of demon blood, but oddly enough I looked so much like you Saiyans and humans that you could barely call me demonic. In our place on the far side of this universe, I actually fought the Zerg in a Terran army, until my commander got power hungry and betrayed me. He practically fed me to the Zerg to save his own ass," she sighed momentarily before grinning again, this time much more sinister.

"I truly enjoyed removing his personal guard from this plane of existence. Pity that he got away, I would have made sure that the Overmind could revive him again and again for my pleasure," she laughed a little at this. _What a sick race._

"How were you of demon blood, can you explain that?" Gohan asked for me.

"Oh that, my mother was Terran, my father was a demon. Not just any demon, he was the demon King Dabura. I barely remember my mother, and I didn't meet him till I was five or so. I can still remember when he took me aboard his ship and trained me for a few years. Somehow he knew he would have to leave me behind though, and I woke up on a human colony with barely a scrap of my memory. It was long before that blasted wizard Babidi snatched control of him," she said, frowning at the name Babidi.

"So you are Dabura's daughter huh? Funny he said you were dead, but then I can see how he could be wrong about that," I said in slight surprise.

"You knew my father? Oh that's correct, I had forgotten that you earthling Saiyans had to have been the ones to defeat Majin Buu. I doubt the swarms would have pulled it off," she huffed slightly, putting her claw away.

"You knew we beat Buu, but you think you stand a better chance against us?" Gohan asked in shock.

"The answer to that is simple. First of all, Buu was not a flesh and blood type and had deeper power than anything in existence. Once Babidi found that he could not take out the Zerg, he fled to find the one creature that could. But now, thanks to you, that creature is dead. We must all give you a deep thanks for saving us a lot of time and resources," she smiled coldly. Gohan and I felt dejected right away, but then he snapped up.

"Better to kill that insane maniac than to let him live and destroy everything including you. So realistically, you are in our debt for killing that monster!" he replied in a nasty tone.

The girl smiled slightly, "Theoretically yes, but were still not letting you go until you are one of us. I hope your ready to meet your new master, or at least be bound to him, he will be here very soon."

"Oh I'm just dripping with enthusiasm," I grumbled.

"One more question, what's your name?" Gohan asked.

"I am called Kerrigan," she said. _Damn, I should have known that one._

"_Ok bro, its time to leave, power up to full!"_ I heard Gohan say through my thoughts.

"Thanks, that's all the information we need!" Gohan shouted, as he started powering up. My silver aura appeared as well once I followed suit, the mystical energy of my deep power felt good to tap into, but no longer intoxicating. We uttered a loud yell, maybe scream, I was too busy to tell the difference. The weeds started to loosen, but I kept going higher. Our combined ki started making the air move, and made the Zerglings fly back into a wall. Kerrigan was having trouble standing as well. Just before we reached full power, the weeds snapped off easily, allowing us to land on the ground and continue undaunted. I reached my full power just after Gohan did, our silver auras lit up the room as well as the eyes of Kerrigan. I quickly noted that I felt right on par with Gohan, power wise. The Zerglings hissed and jumped towards us. They seemed to move quite slowly now, or it was all the power I was going to fight with. Either way, the first one still got punched hard in the chest, hard enough to break through the skin and grab a hold of its rib cage. I yanked on the protective bones, ripping them out in a vat of blood and killing the creature instantly. Its claw clipped the side of my head, but barely registered any pain. Gohan's kill was just as grotesque as mine, but he simply kicked its head straight off. Kerrigan started raising her arms, and the blue Psi lightning surrounded us again. It struck in the same places, but for some reason it didn't hurt like it did before, in fact we barely noticed it. The look of shock on her face was priceless, but she kept up her lightning storm.

"Damn, they're starting to tap into their Psionic power. I can't hold them," she whispered as if someone was listening. Gohan threw a small ki blast at her, and it pushed her out the so-called door and far back into the complex, out of sight. He grabbed the Dragonball and pocketed it.

"Okay, which way is out?" he asked.

"How about straight up?" I asked, drawing my arms back, "Galic gun!" The red beam cut through whatever this building was made of and we found the outside air above it. Flying through, I saw something very odd going on. Once we were clear, I looked back to see that the far inside of the building was being stitched back together. The outside was spurting blood, but the inside was already starting to heal.

"Wow, buildings that regenerate?" Gohan asked amazed.

"How about we don't find out?" I asked, firing another Galic gun into the Hive cluster. This time I put more power into the blast, and the hive collapsed in on itself. Gohan spotted some flyers heading towards us, the Kamikaze types.

"Blast them!" I shouted, sending a few small blasts at them. They dodged, until Gohan fired a wide blast at them, leaving nothing but smoke behind. I saw the purplish ground start to recede, meaning we had destroyed that portion, but a lot of the Zerg army was missing.

"That was too easy, they let us escape," Gohan pointed out as we flew away.

"They probably don't care at this point with the main invasion force only a few days away, let's get back to Capsule Corp," I suggested as I turned up the heat a bit and flew for home.

**-**

We only needed about seven minutes to get back since we had powered up to full, the trip was fast. Vegeta and Trunks stood on the front lawn, scowling and waiting.

"What the hell took you two so long, and why are you powered up?" he roared when we landed. Then he must have gotten a good look at all of the Zerg blood on our clothes. A trickle of something went down my cheek; I rubbed my hand over it to see my own blood. _That's right, damn Zergling did brush by._

"The Zerg attacked again eh?" he asked.

"Not exactly, they had the Dragonball, and we got to meet their leader. She was also Dabura's daughter," I explained.

"She is that goof's daughter, was she as weak as I think she was?" Vegeta snorted.

"She was not strong at all, but she could control Psi. She used some sort of lightning attack on us, and we couldn't sense it, it knocked us out the first time. Later she tried again when we were powered up and it didn't do much, so it had to have been a Psi attack," I replied.

"We'll get the extreme details of Psi figured out another day. Trunks go get the woman and her dragonballs, let's get this ordeal finished!" Vegeta ordered as Trunks dashed inside quickly. He was gone for about five minutes before anyone else came out. The three of us stood in silence, other than Gohan and myself powering down, we were probably lighting up any ki sense for a few galaxies. Mom came up with a large bag in hand, orange objects just inside it.

"And what the hell were you two doing to get messed up like that?" she asked.

"Getting the Dragonball?" I asked with a slight grin.

"Boys," she muttered aloud. I sensed Bardock, Fasha and the other Saiyans in the lobby, and they emerged a few minutes later, looking a bit roughed up. _Must have been training._ Mom dropped the balls on the ground and all seven of them glowed brightly.

"Okay, now where is Goku?" she asked.

"Probably eating," I joked, catching a slight glare from Bardock and Gohan.

"Argh, Trunks go call Chichi," she pointed inside.

A few minutes later he came back out, "Chichi said he would come soon." Just after he said that, a certain Saiyan teleported in out of nowhere. He was sporting a white shirt, a black vest, and green pants; and was munching on a big piece of ham.

"Huh, well would you look at the great Kakarot. I see the harpy wouldn't let you dress in your training garb again," Vegeta laughed in a mocking tone.

"Yeah, she put them all in the wash before I could grab one," Goku whined slightly.

"Enough chit chat, let's get this over with," Mom said, stepping up to the dragonballs and holding out her hands.

"Eternal dragon, by your name we summon you forth, SHENRON!" The sky darkened, lightning went off above us, and the wind picked up. The light show that followed really did rival Porunga's, and seeing a beam of light twist and bend in so many directions was kinda neat to see. Then the light beams swirled around in the air, forming green scales with a yellow belly.

"YOU HAVE AWAKENED ME FROM MY SLUMBER! I WILL GRANT YOU TWO WISHES! WHAT IS YOUR FIRST WISH?" _And I thought Porunga had a loud voice, geez,_ I thought as I winced just a bit.

"I still say he looks like a big snake," Gohan muttered behind me.

"Hiya Shenron, good to see you!" Goku started.

"YOU AGAIN? WHAT NEEDS TO BE FIXED THIS TIME?" Shenron asked. I smirked slightly, the dragon was right on today.

"Please erase the earthlings memory of the evil Majin Buu so good Buu can live freely among us. You can leave them for my friends and family though," Goku stated wish number one.

"IT SHALL BE DONE!" the dragon's red eyes glowed very bright momentarily.

It only took a few seconds before the beast spoke again, "IT IS DONE, WHAT IS YOUR SECOND WISH?" Vegeta stepped up; it looked like he wanted to do this one. Goku let him by as he got closer to Shenron, staring and glaring up at the beast.

"Shenron, I have a question before you grant the next wish. Can you restore this boy Verto to his previous age, but leave his power as high as it is now?"

"I CAN RESTORE HIS AGE, BUT HIS POWER WOULD BE DECREASED GREATLY BECAUSE OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT. IT HOWEVER WOULD INCREASE HIS POTENTIAL," the dragon roared. I frowned at the words _Decreased Greatly._

"Fine, restore him to his previous age, but keep his power intact as best you can!"

"IT SHALL BE DONE!" A golden light surrounded me and lifted into the air, taking me with it. The ball of light then blocked out my vision, and I felt my ki drop a little bit. Some of my body mass seemed to decrease a bit, but I didn't really detect much of a change. The ball dropped me back on the ground in the same standing position I was in. I opened my eyes and glanced around, everything and everyone was bigger, a lot bigger. My thoughts were clearer than they had been in awhile. I felt no random Saiyan instinct or other teenage thoughts affecting my brain activity, though that problem was greatly reduced by Old Kai. I did feel the drop in ki pretty well, and it made me feel pathetic while everyone else felt much stronger. The dragon had probably taken close to two thirds of my power away, maybe more. By my best guess, I was probably close or even with Piccolo's maximum power, maybe a little less than his.

"YOUR WISHES ARE GRANTED, NOW I BID YOU FAREWELL!" I looked up to see the dragon turn bright gold before vanishing. The dragonballs remained their golden color and rose into the air. Lightning struck around them as they flashed a few times before splitting apart and zooming into the distance very fast. The sky cleared up a moment later, leaving a bright blue day like nothing had happened. A sudden realization dawned on me as I examined the once again smaller form of me when compared to everything else. _This sucks._

**-**

"Oh come on boy, I know your stronger than this!" Vegeta laughed as he had kicked me to the floor again.

"Yeah, I was, you made the wish remember!" I groaned and picked myself off the floor of the gravity chamber. What really sucked was that he was at Super Saiyan two, but frankly he could have been at level one and still able to kick my ass very easily. Last time we had sparred this heavily to test my powers, I beat him at level three rather convincingly.

"You make a good point, I guess we'll have to build up all that power again after the Zerg are destroyed," he said, flying forward and nearly punching my head off. Then he made me glad I didn't eat anything that morning with the next hit. I hit the gravity room wall with a lovely thud, leaving a dent where my body had been. It didn't really help when he had still had five hundred times gravity going the entire time.

"All done? Too bad," he said mockingly. I got up slowly, gathering what ki I had in preparation.

"I'm not quite done yet!" I shouted at the floor, powering up the best I could, "Kaioken!" The red aura surrounded me and made my body swell a little bit. The strain was definitely there, something I would need to build back up, but it wasn't near as bad as I had felt before. I rushed behind Vegeta and caught him across the cheek just as he returned the blow. With the added Kaioken strain, the punch had a bit of an extra load behind it. Vegeta staggered back a bit, but I definitely heard a snap in my left cheekbone. I dropped the Kaioken powerup and sat on my knees, holding my cheek in pain.

"Okay, that hurt," I muttered.

"All right boy, I suppose I shouldn't fight you like this. It would hardly be fair to me to fight someone so weak! That's enough for today, your sweaty carcass is going to stink up my gravity chamber, get out!" _Well at least he admits fault there, but then I know how he is about others being stronger than him._ I stumbled out of the chamber, holding my face and grabbing a towel to whip the blood and sweat from it.

"Well look who lived," Fasha said from the couch, smiling slightly.

"Yeah well, I tend to hang around like an annoying pest," I chuckled a bit, standing up a bit more straight. Things between us sure did feel different, other than size. I could still sense the bond, but its intensity decreased was now, at least from my point of view. _I wonder when that will kick back in._

She didn't respond to that, "I can't hear anything, did the prince bash your brains in that badly?"

"I think the age change did something to it," I said, watching her smiling face flash into a frown pretty quick.

"That is correct boy, the age change practically dissolved it and it won't be back until your mature again. You may still have traces of it, but that is about it. She doesn't belong to you for now, and you don't belong to her either, but remember our deal girl!" Vegeta snapped before slamming the huge metal door, turning on the chamber a half second later.

"Your deal huh?" I asked.

"Yeah, I had to agree to the whole waiting thing, something I don't know if I can do. But if it does make you feel better, you'll be getting plenty of sleep for awhile, that smell is gone," she explained.

"Oh that one that seems to drive you crazy. Well I'm not having much of a mind for that stuff right now, just training again," I said, scowling at my power loss.

"Well at least those Zerg scars are gone," Fasha said, pointing to my chest that had been healed up, though I suspected the dragon had something to do with that.

"Your face looks a little funny," Fasha laughed a little.

"Thanks, Vegeta just broke it. It isn't the first time either, should be okay in a few days," I said, touching it lightly, and getting a sharp response.

"So what is this hyperbolic time chamber like anyway?" she asked.

"Oh that, well imagine a small place for your food, beds and bath with a door leading to this dimension. Then around that little house like area, nothing but a big white void, that's about what its like," I said with a shrug.

"Sounds weird, but coming from you that's normal!"

I scowled, "I'll remember that next time Vegeta is issuing death threats."

"You know that's the second time you've said that to me when I call you weird, this isn't a trend is it?"

"Keep talking, you'll find out." My ki senses picked up on several signals coming from the lobby, several Saiyan and several human.

"Looks like the party is here," I said, getting up and motioning for her to as well.

**-**

Everyone in the Z gang gathered in the lobby, Mom had set up a small pedestal in the middle and chairs all around for some kind of holographic presentation. Krillin and Eighteen had sent Marron away with Goten and Trunks while the adults were sorting things out, but the kids stayed pretty close, they needed to know this stuff too. Vegeta stepped in a few minutes later, picking a spot on the wall to stand at. Mr. Satan and Buu arrived with Videl lastly, as he would be our public correspondent when things got really out of hand, which we fully expected. Again I noticed his ki was a bit higher, or maybe it was the fact that he was standing next to Buu. I disregarded the issue as Mom waved me over to the pedestal and handed me a remote for the presentation. Earlier we discussed who would be giving the speech, but since I was the only real Zerg expert around, I would be doing it and she would assist. She would handle the other stuff, like armor, weapons and communication items and issues.

"Ahem!" she cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention.

"Verto, please begin," she said, stepping to the side.

"Alright guys, we've all discussed the Zerg invasion, and some of us have had some run-ins with them. We called you here today to give you the whole scoop, lights please." The lights dimmed, I hit a button and a three-dimensional picture of a Zergling popped up, slowly turning in the air. _Wow, she really went all out with this stuff._ I was about to explain what a Zergling was when a loud roar reached my sensitive ears. I picked up a large ki signal from above, and soon a loud gush of air just out the door. Mom ran over and pulled it open, I could see that a large capsule spacecraft had just landed outside, the door and ramp opening slowly. The large ki I sensed was wavering a bit, and felt injured somehow. Mom stepped out for about two seconds before Vegeta had already charged out the door in a full protective mode. There was a long silence before he stumbled back in, helping somebody stagger a bit. The figure was definitely a Saiyan, the tail showed it all, limp at his side. The black hair was very bloody, as was the face, and the remaining clothes were in shreds and his chest was bleeding from multiple cuts, at least an inch deep for all of them.

"Kakarot, Senzu bean now!" The bean was tossed less than a second later, Vegeta shoved it in the Saiyan's mouth. After swallowing, the cuts and bruises healed instantly, and the unknown Saiyan wiped the blood from his face before looking up at Vegeta.

"Thank you prince," he said as he lifted his head up for us to see.

"Broly!" Goku gasped.

"That's right Kakarot, its me again, sorry to disturb you. I was attacked on a planet in space a few systems away, I barely made it back here to warn you," he began before Vegeta cut him off.

"Is one of the things that did this right there?" he asked, pointing at the holographic image.

Broly's eyes went as wide as dinner plates, "Y-Yes sir, there were a lot of those, other types as well. Their tactics were of none I have ever seen before, and thus they were able to injure me. They are on their way here," he tried to tell us.

"We know, were in preparation for them now. They are called the Zerg, and we plan to thwart their invasion attempt. I request that you remain here and help us fight them," Vegeta said, not ordered.

Broly nodded and grimaced, "Yes sir, I plan on killing every last one that I can! I was able to fend them off for quite a time in small numbers, but larger numbers eventually overwhelmed my power!"

"Good, sit down, we were just going over the beasts," Vegeta said, pointing towards the couch next to Goku. Goku was a bit nervous to sit next to Broly, but not like Gohan was. Bardock and the crew were busy trying to figure out just who the hell Broly was.

Bardock reached the conclusion first though, "You resemble the former Commander, Paragus. Well, barely," he noted.

Broly scowled a bit at the mention of his father, "I suppose I should, since I am his son! Nothing I take pride in!"

"Continue brat!" Vegeta barked, slamming the door and ending the introduction.

"For those of you who don't know, this is a Zergling, smaller type of Zerg. These little devils are built for close combat primarily, but have excellent jumping abilities. It's best to take these out from a distance if you are not confident with your close range fighting skills, but these are the weakest type of Zerg. Unless they are hitting you in numbers, they shouldn't be a huge problem. Be careful about their speed and crazy tactics though, they ignore pain. Beware the sharp claws on all of the legs, they can rip a hole in even the toughest Saiyan skin, I can assure you of that myself," I said, flipping the button Mom showed me. A picture of a Hydra popped up next, showing it a bit smaller than the Zergling.

"Now this model isn't to scale, these beasts are actually about fifteen feet tall or so. This is a Hydralisk, or just Hydra for short. These can fight close range as well, but they really shine when fighting at a distance. Watch out for their green needle spines that they shoot out from their mouths. Their scaly skin is harder than a Zerglings' so unless you use a slightly higher-powered blast, you won't break it. Its best to fight them up close and avoid their talons here. A risky way to take one out with low power is to fire at its mouth while its shooting spines, your call there I guess," I flipped to the next one. A large elephant creature showed up next, big tusks even for the small scale.

"Ultralisk, high powered mauler at close range, and its big enough to take down a transformed Saiyan. Watch the tusks and shoot it down from a long range with a strong blast. They are for the most part slow, but as Shugesh and Borgos told me, they do not all share that weakness, so be weary," I suggested, flipping to the next one. We started the flyers after that, starting with the Overlord controllers.

"Now it may be possible to cause the Zerg to run out of control and even turn against each other if you destroy enough of these, but it would probably take about the same amount of time to just kill the Zerg in question. These things also become transports for the ground Zerg, so taking these out could disrupt communication and delay ground troops, which is a must!" The next picture of a dragon like creature was next, with big flapping wings.

"Mutalisk, or Mutas for short, the basic fighting air unit. Can throw hard chunks of acidic bone projectiles at a high rate of speed, avoid those and your home free, but they can maneuver pretty well. Its smaller brother, the Scrounge, is the one you have to watch out for. They are Kamikaze flyers that rarely come alone and tend to just swell up and plow into you. Take these out from a distance, taking it out up close risks it blowing up and getting acid on you. Trust me, it sucks when that happens," I said, flipping through a few of them.

"Now Mutas can evolve into other forms as well, this one here is called a Guardian," I began, pointing it out.

"Looks like a floating crab or something," Tora joked.

"Funny you should say that, that's what I call them too. Crab or no crab, it can shoot out acid spores from above. It does not like to fight in the air, and can't move very fast either, so that's your best bet. It mainly hangs back and shoots at buildings and stuff from afar like a siege weapon you could say. Its brother the Devourer likes to fight in the air, it'll shoot out large, purple, suffocating acid clouds that can hinder your movement and allow the kamikazes to come in on you. Both of these types have a lot of range, but neither have any kind of speed," I flipped the next one over. A new and slightly freaky looking picture showed up next, the face of this thing was truly evil with its red eyes. Its body waved back and forth on the ground like a snake, even though it had tiny legs.

"This little bastard is the Defiler, it doesn't fight, but it does infect so to speak. It can release orange clouds that make it hard to see your target, and it may even block some ranged attacks, but I don't think it would take a ki blast. If all else fails you can fly through the cloud and take out whatever is hiding on the ground. Another thing it can do is throw large amount of red acid spores. Do not let these get on you, they can start breaking up your skin and cause a lot of damage, making you quite vulnerable. The only plus is that it can't shoot the spores nor clouds constantly, so it needs to build them up again after using it up," I glanced at Chichi, who was freaking out at the picture of the Defiler. I had to admit, that thing looked pretty nasty, and its skills were definitely not something to trifle with, and I flipped again.

"This is a Queen, though its not much of an attacker. It shoots green spores that hinder movement and I believe that she can infect others with parasites. I'm not a hundred percent sure about what all that can do, but it may involve some sort of infestation outside the Zerg hives. That's about it for her. Probably won't see many of these, she is weak, though she may be a good scouter. I think they mostly hang around the hive clusters. Here is a Drone, a basic worker for the Zerg, it gathers whatever resources they rely on. That has been just about anything from what I've seen, including the dead bodies and trees. They are weak when it comes to attacking, and are easily disposed of. That does it for the known Zerg types, now for buildings," I said, flipping one more time. The picture turned to a constantly changing slide, flipping through random Zerg structures, until stopping on the one I wanted.

"All Zerg structures should be destroyed, but this one is the one you really don't want to see. It is called a Nydus canal, and must be wiped out the instant you see it; it can be a point for Zerg reinforcements. It looks like a long tunnel underground from one point to another, probably some sort of mystical warp point that the Zerg use, similar to Goku's Instant Transmission. If you want to make it easier, take it out as quick as possible, now this…" I said, changing to the image of the hives, "… this is the primary hive cluster, the main command center if you will. There are different types of hives, depending on how long or how developed the base is. This one here is the most advanced. Now all Zerg buildings have to be sitting on this purple stuff called Creep, which is produced by the hives and Creep buildings, some of which can act as guard towers. These are important to take out as well to halt Zerg progress and beat them back. One final thing, we may run into slightly advanced forms of all those Zerg types, some that are tougher and what not. They can evolve quickly, and I'll bet it depends on tactics of whatever commands them. That's all I have," I said, handing the remote to Mom.

"Thank you son. Now I have a few goodies I came up with for the Zerg battle, first of all this," she said, flipping to a picture of her new gun type.

"These little Buster guns are capable of disintegrating a Zergling on the spot, or at least close to that anyway. I made plenty of these just in case you run out of power or something, and Dad is making some at the other building to supply the King's army with. I'll include those with every armor pack," she flipped again to the armor, "This is the same basic design as Saiyan armor, except the suit is much harder and resistant to acid, but don't go testing that theory if you can help it. The armor is a Saiyan proof alloy I came up with, so it should take a basic punch pretty well and should guard against those close range Zerg, but again that is in theory." She said, flipping off the screen.

"What about the fact that we can't sense the Zerg very well, what do we do about that?" Krillin asked.

"I'm glad you asked, I came up with Saiyan-type scouters that only detect Zerg, and about how many Zerg signals you're facing. It can't identify the type of Zerg sense they all share the same fuzzy signal. And they also act as communicators for everyone, so don't go breaking them. I don't have very many," Mom said in a raised voice.

"Everyone will be given a few Senzu beans before the battle, but use these sparingly. They restore your strength well, but try to wait until you have no chance of coming back here to rest up. The woman will have a few regeneration tanks ready to go in her lab," Vegeta said, getting up and standing the center of the room.

"Now let's be real about this. I don't fully expect everyone to make it through this kind of planetary fight. We know the Earthlings will fight bravely, but they will need our help on the front lines. Don't waste your energy moping about the genocide we are probably going to see, we can use the dragonballs later on to clean up the damage. Save whom you can, but no blind heroics, not until we have a plan for wiping them all out. Now since there are a lot of them coming from space, I expect a lot of landing sites. If you can shoot down the transporting types and destroy early bases, do it! If you get in a bad bind, get back or call here for assistance. That is all we have for now, in about four days time we expect them to start landing. Train hard until then. Kakarot and I are taking the other Saiyans up to the time chamber for training tonight, any of you are welcome to come as well for the training. On the third night from now we will hold a final meeting here for armor and supplies. Plan to attend and for now, plan on this place being our main base," Vegeta finished, before leaving the room and heading for the gravity chamber.

"Wow, didn't know he was a speaker," Krillin said. Everyone else was amazed too, mostly at the slight hint of compassion in Vegeta's voice, very slight.

"We need to decide right now who will be fighting and who will be staying here during the invasion. I know I'm in for the fighting," Goku said.

"Yeah I'm in too Dad," Gohan said.

"Count us in," Bardock said for the crew. Broly nodded, as did Piccolo and Android Seventeen.

"I'll go, but Eighteen will stay here for the base's protection, as well as Marron's," Krillin said, catching a slight glare from his wife. Tien nodded the okay to go, but Yamcha looked unsure.

"I think you should stay here as well Yamcha, there's always a chance they show up out of nowhere when were not around," Piccolo suggested.

"Well I'll be here with Bulma of course, and you two are definitely not going!" Chichi fumed at the boys for the extra-added threat. Videl wanted to go, but Gohan wasn't going to let her due to the pregnancy factor. That discussion was ended pretty quickly by Mr. Satan, who opted to remain at Capsule Corp. Buu however would go out, we needed him on the battlefields and everyone knew it.

"I'll stay here too," Chiaotzu announced, though most people didn't even see the little guy behind Tien. It was decided then, Mom, Chichi, Videl, Eighteen, Goten, Trunks, Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Satan, Roshi, Yajirobi, Popo, Dende, and the rest of the non-fighters of the group would stay at Capsule corp. Everyone else would be going out to fight: Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Broly, Bardock, Fasha, Tora, Shugesh, Borgos, Tien, Piccolo, Buu, Seventeen, Krillin and myself. The boys were a bit steamed when they learned I would be going out and not them, since I was younger again, but they understood it. Since I was mystic as well as Gohan, my Psi emitions would only risk a sneak attack if I were to hang around, and that is not what we needed to win this fight. I didn't want Fasha to go, but I knew I couldn't stop her. If anything this reminded me of the Treme fights, fighting off a lot of evil people at the time.

Goku suggested that everyone pair off in two's or threes for the fights since this was going to be a big battle, who would be with who was to be decided later. With the grouping sorted out, everyone who planned on training in the time chamber left to do his or her respective preparations, Popo in particular since he would have to cook. Fasha and I had our own little goodbye session, but it wasn't drawn out like most lovers, since the extreme feelings for each other were pretty much gone. After Vegeta and the others left for the time chamber, I wondered up to bed, taking an ice pack for my broken face. As I lay down in the now larger bed, I ran over the events recently, and the possible events to come.

**Power levels****:**

**Mystic Verto (teen): 550,000,000**

**Mystic Verto (kid): 200,000,000, Kaioken: 300,000,000**

**Mystic Gohan: 550,000,000**

**Vegeta (SS2): 420,000,000**


	25. Calm before the Storm

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 24: Calm before the Storm**

It was kind of a lonely feeling going to bed alone again, but it didn't last. Out of habit I searched out for Fasha's ki the instant I woke up, not finding it of course. I sighed, remembering all the events of yesterday in a quick flash. Now that I was a kid again I wasn't supposed to be having these feelings, but they weren't very strong. Vegeta explained that separation would be a little difficult to handle, but not horribly bad since we never completed the bond. Glancing at the time of eight in the morning, I decided to get up and try to get it off my mind. The smell of food did the trick, and I dressed quickly to run down for breakfast. When I reached the kitchen, the smell of food got really good, and then I saw why. Chichi and Videl stood over the stove with no robots around.

"Well good morning sleepyhead, you're the first one. Have a seat and I'll get you some food for that stomach of yours!" Chichi said with a bright smile. _Wow she's in a good mood today._

"Where are Gohan and the boys?" I asked.

"I think the boys are still sleeping, Gohan is helping Bulma in her lab," Videl said, bringing over a stack of fresh pancakes. That was all the incentive I needed, and started chowing down.

"Same old Verto," she sighed and went back for a plate of bacon and eggs. Afterward I ate enough for an army, I sat in contentment, listening to Chichi and Videl talk about random things before adding myself to the discussion.

"I know the invasion is in a few days, but aren't you still in school Videl?" I asked.

"No silly, its summer break right now, and I may not be going back right away," she patted her stomach and smiled.

"Well you will be going back young lady once he is born!" Chichi scowled slightly.

"He?"

"Yes, of course it will be a boy, first grandchildren always are!" Chichi claimed.

"Excuse me, but I know this is a girl. Girl's are naturally stronger than boys anyway!" Videl fired back. I sighed, this argument was bound to go on for some time, so I simply got up and left the room.

"I'm going out for awhile, but I won't be far. Just into the city!" I called back. I needn't bother; the two women were still in a heated argument to even notice. I walked outside and onto the street, hands in my pockets. The city was nice in the morning; the cool and brisk air that came from the onshore flow of the ocean nearby had something to do with that. I wondered across a few streets and into a park that I had frequented with Goten and Trunks whenever Vegeta let us have a day off of training, which was hardly ever. There were a lot of kids out there today, most of them playing on the playground equipment. I picked out a spot under a tree, watching them with a slight smile across my face. _I could always ask the dragon to make my mind that of a child again, but I don't think that will fly with anyone, including me._ _Kids have it easy, no cares about tomorrow, no dangers to worry about, no need to fear an invading race since they don't understand it anyway._ A young adult came striding up to me. She was rather short for an adult, maybe Videl's height at best, but then even that was big again now. Her hair was red and long, her eyes green. Her face held a bright smile of an angel.

"Hi there. Aren't you that kid, Verto Briefs, the one who fought against Majin Buu?" _So much for blending in._

"Yeah," I replied.

"Can I have your autograph then, my daughter really wants it!"

I smiled slightly at the minor publicity, "Yeah sure." She handed me a pad of paper and a pen and I signed.

"What's your name anyway?"

"Sarah," she said quickly.

"Sarah..." I dragged it out to get the point across.

"Oh, uh, C-Cardigan," she stuttered. _Must be a ditz, where's Bunny Briefs when you find her a friend._

"Sarah Cardigan, kind of a funny name, but Verto Briefs isn't much of a picnic either, here you go," I said, handing her back her pad. She didn't leave right away like most of them do, but rather she watched the playing children first.

"How old are you anyway Verto?" _Tough question, I don't think I even know now. _

"Eight, almost nine," I said quickly, close enough anyway.

"Funny, I thought you'd be a bit older and just suffering from short syndrome. No offense," she giggled to my scowl. I didn't say anything, just kept watching the children playing; a particular group was playing tag nearby.

"Children are the perfect humans don't you think? No cares, no worries, all they need to do is play and learn. So pure," she said quietly. I nodded, before realizing what she had actually said, and I scanned her energy. Her ki was a bit high for an average human, but it wasn't anything to write home about. However, her energy signal did feel a bit strange. _I swear I heard her refer to them as humans._

"You sure are young to be fighting though. Other than a few others, I've never seen anyone that young get into the kind of battles that you do. Most adults would avoid that fight you had with Buu!" she exclaimed.

"That's what happens when it's drilled into your head at a young age," I said. _There is something really familiar about this girl._

"Well, I better be going. Good luck in the future, young Verto!" With that said she simply left the area, no daughter or son to speak of. I decided to follow her, but her ki vanished once she turned a corner, and I lost her. _I know I've seen her somewhere before._

I walked back to Capsule corp. trying to remember that name, Sarah Cardigan. _Sarah felt pretty sincere, but when I asked her last name she stuttered a bit, like it wasn't Cardigan, maybe it was something else after all. What else ends with "igan" in last names that I know of. Not many for sure, what if I were to change the C to a K and the A to an E. Kerdigan, that sounds weird. WAIT A SEC, CARDIGAN IS KERRIGAN. I knew I had seen that face before on the Starcraft game. That's why her ki was high!_ I stopped in mid thought, rescanning the city for any scattered signals, finding none.

_But we destroyed her base, well not all of it, but most of the main structure sure didn't make it. There's always a chance she got out or dug underground though, Damnit!_ I kicked a rock in front of me in anger, only to see it Zoom across the sidewalk and take out a parking meter, which fell over and broke on the sidewalk. _But why did she come here anyway, and in human form? I thought once Zerg always Zerg, maybe I was incorrect in that field, or maybe she was simply in disguise and checking out the scenery before the invasion. Whatever the case, I'm not letting her out of my sight again!_ I grunted harshly and walked back to Capsule corp.

**-**

I walked into Mom's lab and saw tons of pistols, shotguns and machine guns lying around. She and Gohan were working on them, attaching new parts and taking off old ones.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Just remodeling these into my special weapons, I figure you can't have enough right?" Mom asked with a smile. _I think this is going to her head now._

"Hey Gohan, can I have a word?" I asked, pointing towards the door.

"Yeah sure, I'll be right back Bulma!" He followed me out into the hall and down about twenty feet.

"What is it?"

"I think I just had a run in with Kerrigan. I'm going to check to be sure, but I'm pretty sure it was her, in human form not Zerg," I sighed.

His eyes narrowed, "Does this mean we could be getting infiltrated before the invasion?"

"Could be, but that's not the Zerg style of fighting, or at least the one I'm familiar with. They prefer to swarm up and come through the front door, strike teams are rare, and that's all Kerrigan's group was anyway. There were a lot more Zerg on Kanassa in the past," I explained.

"Well she was different then any other Zerg we've encountered," he said thoughtfully.

"No kidding, I'm gonna check on my old game to see if that was her," I said, heading back to the lab. Gohan went back to work on weapons detail, and I headed for the computer.

"Hey Mom, you got my old game on here, right? I need to check something!"

"Sure hun, its down there on the left, just click once," she pointed out quickly. I entered the game mode, looking for the right scenario to play. When I got to the right screen, a female face showed up in the tiny Vid screen at the bottom. Her face was similar, her hair red and eyes green, definitely Kerrigan. I exited the game and gave Gohan a slow nod, before standing up.

"Hey Mom, do you have a long-range scanner for the Zerg on the ground? Other than your scouters I mean?"

"No, not yet, me and Gohan were gonna fly out later and start placing sensors around the planet so we can detect where they are, why?"

"Just curious, want some help with those?"

**-**

"Okay, Verto to Gohan, I'm on my last two," I spoke into the scouter.

"Ten-Four, I've got one left, heading for the Eastern Continent!"

"Gotcha, I'll hit the Southern part of that and meet you back at home! Over and out!" I shut off the scouter and continued flying towards my destination. I hadn't been to the Eastern continent very much, just once or twice since it was further east than the Son house. But one plus I had seen while up here, no Zerg and no Zerg signals at all on the scouter. So either they were hiding it, buried underground, or were simply not here yet. I was hoping for the latter, but I knew better, especially if their top assassin was running around without a leash. I approached the southern part of the east continent and the scouter beeped once.

"Right where you are kid!" Mom's voice came over. She stayed behind and monitored us on her scanners, so we knew where to drop the sensor packs. Once they hit the ground they were supposed to dig in and stay covered, rather Zerg were there or not. I dropped the pack and headed north and east a little more since I was on the southern peninsula.

"Fly north for about fifty miles, that will do for the last signal!" Mom ordered. I picked up the pace a little more than I had, wanting to get this done. I only flew for a few minutes before she paged me again, I had flown right over the target ground because I wasn't paying attention.

"Sorry, anxiety," I explained quickly.

"Oh, shut up! I haven't gotten any sleep for the past two days! I'll tell you about anxiety!" I rolled my eyes slightly; dropping the last pack and watching it land and dig into the ground.

"Last one is placed Mom, coming back to base!" I said, flying off quickly, I didn't want to leave Capsule Corp unguarded for long. Gohan had to fly a little further east than I did, but caught up a few minutes later and we flew in silence, grim faces displayed.

"I just hope these work," he said; silver aura flaring beside my own.

"Well, if they do, then we shouldn't have a problem detecting where the Zerg are. And we should get a good video feedback to see what they're up to, hopefully," I replied as we approached home.

-

"Well, that should help a little bit as least," Mom said, as she messed with the holographic projector that was still set up in the lobby. It was decided that we should keep it in there for the battle, for a reference of what all was going on. Mom's scanners were pretty powerful, and could pick up a few Super Saiyans fighting from two hundred miles away from the sensor. It also managed to send back a clear video stream without overloading, something Goten and Trunks tested out for her a bit later.

"What's the long range one say Mom, are they still getting closer?" I asked. She punched in some buttons and the other screen came up, showing a massive purple blob slowly moving towards Earth, they had just entered the asteroid belt.

"Dead on schedule, you two hungry?" As if she had to ask, our stomach's growled.

"Okay, I think I can manage a meal," she groaned as she got up, fatigue was getting obvious.

"No mom, we can eat that instant stuff, or the robots can do it, you're tired and you should rest," I said, pointing at the couch.

"This is nothing, pretty soon you two will be the ones tired and trying to do everything. I'll have to drag your ass to bed then!" She chuckled a bit, staggering a bit as she tried to walk past.

"Mom, if you don't rest now, then you won't be able to drag our asses to bed, rest okay?" I urged again.

"Yeah Bulma, you've worked really hard over the past few days. You do need the rest, what would Vegeta think of this?" Gohan asked.

She sighed, "Get outta here before I change my mind!"

-

After a quick lunch, one that really didn't taste that good, instant robot lunch never did, Gohan and I sparred lightly in the gravity chamber.

"Your face feeling any better?" he asked, throwing a punch.

I blocked it and returned with a kick, "How'd you know?"

"The way it was twitching earlier, and Vegeta has a habit of breaking mine every time we spar together," he grinned and fired a small ki blast, one that I dodged easily.

"Well at least it doesn't hurt today, should be good tomorrow," I said, firing my own batch of ki blasts. A knock came from the metal door, which was odd since everyone knew to use the pager on the side of the door. Gohan walked over to open it, and I turned the gravity back down to normal.

"Supreme Kai?" Gohan asked as I turned around. Indeed it was the Kai himself, or at least the new version of him as Kibito Kai.

"Greeting boys, I presume you two are preparing for the Zerg arrival?"

"Kind of, were just passing the time now, most of the preparations are done. Dad and Vegeta took all the other Saiyans up to the time chamber to train, a few others went too, what brings you here?"

"I came to tell you that the Zerg can home in on our energy, more specifically yours and Verto's. It seems you two both emit a special kind of energy called...."

"Psi?" we both asked, startling the Kai.

"So you have heard of it, I wasn't sure. Well I can give you a little bit on insight on it, but not much," Kibito said, stepping inside and taking a seat on the floor.

"Technically ki and Psi are completely different, where ki is limited to the person, Psi is supposedly unlimited when controlled to its full capacity. I'm not so certain about that and neither is my elder. Also both ki and Psi make up the total energy of your soul by percentage, a normal Saiyan for example only has about ten percent Psi or so, but the other ninety percent is all ki. As my elder told me, one needs about thirty-five to forty percent to even notice Psi. However it is more difficult to harness than ki ever was, I myself have tried to find it within myself for the last thousand years, never finding it. We are still researching the details of this type of energy and we're not very far with it. We would probably know more if not for the fact that Majin Buu had killed all of the other Kais," Kibito looked down slightly before back up.

"But it seems that you two can use this energy, or can you?"

We both gave him a blank stare before I spoke up, "Well according to my sources, we have been emitting it, but neither one of us can feel or sense it, at least that I know of. Isn't having a lower amount of ki a bad thing in this case?" I asked.

"Not necessarily, while your potential ki is probably going to be lower, your potential Psi may be higher. I think they can be combined if one knew how to use them both, but again I'm not the foremost expert on that subject. The only ones who can truly master something like that probably have close to an even split with their energies. As for the Zerg, it's extremely difficult to even detect them, what do you sense when you find Zerg?"

"A scattered ki feeling, like they barely have any, or the ki they have isn't holding together," I replied.

"That is about right, they don't have ki to speak of. They also do not have psi, because they do not have souls either. Only a few Zerg have either, and that list hasn't even cracked a dozen yet. One is the Overmind, the controller of the Zerg. Another is its most trusted servant; her name is Kerrigan, who is supposedly Dabura's daughter. Have you met her?" he asked when we perked up to her name.

"Yeah she's here on Earth already," Gohan said, a bit loud.

"While the Overmind exists, Kerrigan is completely under its control, though she does not like it one bit. She does things her own way, but knows that she cannot openly defy her master. And don't you two start thinking you can just bring her back either, it doesn't work that way. As for the Overmind…" Kibito sighed, "There is plenty to tell, and I doubt even I have half of those answers."

"We got some time, go right ahead," I said, sitting down in front of him, Gohan did the same.

"Since the Zerg are not quite from this universe, though it would seem just like they were, I don't have that much information on them. Somewhere on the far side of the East Galaxy, there is a wormhole of some kind that allows passage from their dimension and ours. I do not know how it got there, but I know it can't be closed either. Babidi used this rip in space to travel to that universe and reality. There he encountered the Zerg and Dabura for the first time. When I explained how Dabura was from the demon world, well it existed in that place, as well as another Earth and more humans. These humans are more advanced in the technology, and while there were no ki fighters there and no Saiyans, their weapons proved effective against just about anything they came across, as long as they weren't overwhelmed that is. Somewhere, sometime, the Zerg started showing up there, and slowly made their way here. They were came for Babidi after, how do you guys say it?"

"Pissed them off?" I asked carefully.

"Yeah that's right. Babidi knew he was outgunned, even with Dabura there at his side he didn't have a chance because of they're great numbers. But he knew that if he revived Buu, no force would stand against him, Zerg or no Zerg. Obviously he was mistaken about that, and the Overmind's will to find the wizard eventually faded once Babidi died and Buu was released. But then something caught its interest, it was you Gohan, your Psionic emitions got its attention. My elder and I didn't know this would happen, otherwise we would have thought twice about unlocking your potential. The Overmind lives on a type of Psi energy I believe, but I'm not sure since we have never encountered it before. It may have to feed on that type of energy as well, meaning its power may not be unlimited like many believe. Therefore it may have to live by having its Zerg consume for it, or perhaps that powers their hive clusters. By killing off entire races and worlds and taking in the dead before their souls leave the bodies for good, which does take a little time, they could likely keep on going, but that is all speculation of course. Your soul Verto, took about five seconds to leave the physical plane once you died. Obviously you had no idea the passage of time, but that is considered abnormally short for any soul. Only the strongest souls can come to other world in a time of less than half a day, like you and most of your friends. But the fact that yours only took five seconds made you stand out, which is why I had you brought to my world later on. After my elder was released, I discussed this fact in private thought with the topic of where you came from and all while he was powering up Gohan, and it was decided that we would eventually do that to you as well. Both of you have a greater power hidden deep in your souls, and it's this power the Overmind wants. It appears to be luring them here. No doubt it targeted you first Verto because of the power readings and the lack of experience for battle, no offense."

"None taken, continue."

"Now the Overmind has more than just us for enemies, most of which are all in the other dimension that is attached to this one. However, I do not know of them all, nor do I know if they could be trusted, so it wasn't worth the risk. But there is one enemy in particular that really drove the Overmind up the wall. They are called the Protoss," Kibito said, catching the way my eye lit up.

"You know of them do you?" I nodded in amazement, _Wow this really is like the game, who would've thought the SC and DBZ dimensions were that close together._

"They are a race that knows no ki, but are masters of natural and artificial forms of Psi, and are probably the only race that can contend with the Zerg fully. I have my suspicions the Overmind chased down Babidi and then you two to try to gain the advantage over the Protoss, still up in the air about that one," Kibito shrugged, "Any questions?"

"Just one, do you know how we might be able to draw out this Psi energy?" Gohan asked.

"That I don't Gohan, but I have a feeling deep down that you two will figure it out eventually. The one thing that has worked for both of you has been extreme rage from the pain of loss and such. While your mystic power doesn't require that anymore, that particular situation also hasn't happened yet. Search deep in your time of need, and you might find the answer," Kibito said, getting to his feet.

"One last question, what are the Zerg exactly? Every life form has to have a soul, or a ki, even small animals do?" Gohan asked. It was a good question, I had been wondering myself.

Kibito looked unsure, "Perhaps the Zerg are the slow evolution of deceased races that the Overmind has conquered and twisted into what we know now. Only time will tell, I really do not have any idea. This is not a creature we can read thoughts from easily. Anyway, it's time for me to go now. I cannot be involved during the battle with the Zerg, but rest assured we will be rooting you on from up there, farewell!" he held up a thumbs up and vanished promptly.

"Are you as confused as I am?" Gohan asked, staring at the spot Kibito had been standing in.

"Yeah just about," I smirked and got up as well, heading for the door, and the next meal.


	26. Day of Destiny Arrives

**I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.**

**Chapter 25: Day of Destiny arrives**

Unfortunately for the Earth, the next two days passed very quickly. Before I knew it, Vegeta and Goku had finished training the Saiyans and everyone was meeting up again. Gohan and I sparred lightly the second day just like before, then we went to the park when we felt some energy shift around that area. We spotted the red headed human Kerrigan again, she waved slightly before wondering off, vanishing before we could catch her.

"What is with that girl anyway?" Gohan asked.

"Beats me," I shrugged as we gave up the chase. Broly came back on time, informing us that Goku and Vegeta were going to keep the rest of the Saiyans in time chamber a bit longer than planned. He wouldn't say why, and I thought for sure it was because of Super Saiyan transformations, or lack of them. I wasn't sure how Fasha was going to greet me after being gone for two and a half years in her eye. I got my answer though, that look of determination in all of their eyes would frighten anyone. Goku wore his usual smile that didn't belong on a hardened Saiyan warrior, and Vegeta's scowl wasn't surprising either.

"So it worked out?" Gohan asked first.

"You could say that Gohan, wanna see?" Goku asked, pointing his finger out the door. The crew headed outside, I could feel their now much higher ki rising, just to show off.

"Okay guys, take it up as far as it goes!" Bardock ordered, starting to power up. A strong wind picked up around us as the five warriors powered up, ki lightning struck around them as well. Then the golden energy radiated off of them, a transformation I mastered a long time ago. Their hair turned gold and eyes teal green, tails still brown, signaling the first transformation to Super Saiyan. But their energy still shot up after that, and if anything it was faster than it did when they started. Lightning surrounded all of them and a huge aura went up. _Well I didn't expect this, but then if you have Goku and Vegeta training you for two solid years, I suppose this could be done._

Their hair spiked up more as the lightning went through it, and their skin emitted a bit more light as the blue ki lightning cut through their bodies and their auras. They had ascended to the second level, and their tails had even turned gold now. The ki rising ended shortly after that, and I got a good grip on their powers now. Bardock was still the strongest of the group, his power was near Vegeta and Goku at Super Saiyan two, or at least what I was used to for it. Tora, not to be outdone, was right behind him. Shugesh and Borgos were below Tora, but pretty close to each other, Shugesh was a tad higher. Fasha, the lone female of the group, was still the lowest, but it would be hard to say that now. Her power was way above mine at my maximum, and probably above it even with the Kaioken technique. It was about at the level Goku was at Super Saiyan two when I first met him.

"Almost makes you wonder what those Zerg were thinking coming here, but then they don't think much do they?" Piccolo asked behind me. I hadn't even seen him land with Dende; I was too busy watching the light show. _An army of Super Saiyans, literally._ Goku gave a slight signal with his hand, and they all dropped power back to normal, well normal for them now.

"So what do you think, am I still weak now?" Fasha smirked as she and I sat on one of the lobby room couches.

"Yes," I laughed, catching a punch in the side that actually hurt a little.

"Your girlfriend had to spar with me for five months because she hadn't transformed yet. Bardock hit the first level about three weeks in, Tora about six weeks, Shugesh and Borgos on the same day two months after Tora. She didn't hit the level until month number five," Krillin explained.

"And she ripped you a new asshole when she did didn't she?"

"Damn right she did, it took just about everyone to calm her down after I was beaten up," he rubbed his head laughing.

"Well you did insult my mate, you think I was going to take that sitting down?" Fasha gave him a warning glare.

"Don't you know by now that we did that so you would transform? I didn't actually mean it!" Krillin begged off. I was a bit taken aback by Fasha's new tone. It wasn't that it was overly threatening like one would get from training with Vegeta all the time. It was more relaxed and more confident.

"So, proud of me now love?" she asked sweetly.

"Vegeta was right, I wouldn't have survived the night after training was done if I had been changed after, you're stronger than I am now!" I admitted. Krillin simply backed away and joined his wife, making me suspect that he was more than just beat down in there. His power was higher than it had ever been, so the trip had been good for him as well. Tien took his place a moment later.

"Vegeta and Goku kicked all of us out of the time chamber once two years were up. Even Piccolo, who threatened to seal them in there before Goku told him why. The only reason Broly left was because Vegeta told him too, but they must have ascended during that time. Goku and Vegeta probably kicked us out for our own safety," Tien explained, sitting down next to me. His power had gone up dramatically, but I really shouldn't have been surprised, look what happened to Bardock's crew. I saw Seventeen come back as well, looking like he had seen better days outside of the time chamber. He had trained as well, but a power increase couldn't be detected from him anyway.

"Attention everyone, we're going to go through final details now!" Mom called, rapping a stick against the side of the hologram projector. We then reviewed all of the Zerg types, though quickly as we had gone through this before. Just about everyone was handed a capsule, each containing armor and the new handguns for emergencies. The only real exceptions were of course Goten and Trunks, as they only got armor. Piccolo declined on both, he could regenerate if it was a problem. Buu was too big for armor, and he'd probably screw something up with the gun.

"Okay guys, this is the scanning system we set up while you guys were gone. This can track just about anything that lands on Earth. I had Gohan and Verto set up the deployable sensors that should remain hidden. With these we can track Zerg signals just about anywhere, and monitor battles as long as they are close enough to the sensor. The range of each one is about two hundred miles, and if any of you blow these out I'm gonna be pissed!" she yelled, making everyone flinch slightly.

"We're going to need to group up now, as Goku suggested into pairings of two's and three's," Piccolo stated. This started a bit of an argument, not because of fighting ability or power differences, but mostly because of Gohan and myself. No one wanted to pair us with someone weak, or together, because both would risk us being captured easier and the Zerg succeeding in what we believed they were aiming for. The argument was silenced the instant Chichi brought out the skillet because of the swear words going through the air.

"Next one who yells gets it!" _Amazing how that works so well!_

"I have a simple solution. There are fifteen of you guys, so we simply draw numbers for this like the martial arts tournament. Teams one through seven, the oddball goes to number seven. How's that sound?" Mom suggested. Everyone seemed to agree with that and chance it on fate. Mom wrote out the numbers on small pieces of paper, then shoved them in a small box and covered it with a lid.

She shook the box to shuffle the numbers, "Alright, who wants to go first?" Goku wanted to, the way he jumped up and down was hard to miss. Then, when he got the go ahead, he started stretching as if ready to fight right away. _What a character. _He drew team one, and for some reason was ecstatic. Vegeta rolled his eyes, muttering alien curses.

"Gohan, you go next," Mom said with a smile. Gohan drew team three, making everyone breathe a little easier. If there was going to be team competition, no one wanted Goku and Gohan together, but that also would may have been the Zerg's worst nightmare, or perhaps their best chance, they were both pacifistic at times. Tien went next, drawing team seven. Krillin went up and drew team seven as well, and then Piccolo drew seven, making us wonder if the entries were shuffled or not. But team seven was determined, Tien, Krillin and Piccolo, I could already hear Tora and Shugesh chuckling at the weakling team. Bardock shut his heckling crew up, before drawing himself, he drew Team four. I went next, slipping my hand in the box and seeing what fate had decided. The paper was hard to hold on to, and I dropped the first few, but finally grabbed one and pulled it out. Team two was written nice and large on the paper. Several sighs of relief could be heard, I guess a few of them thought it would be three for sure. Vegeta went next, and its funny how fate works out, he drew number one. The scowl on his face would crack mountains; it only deepened when Goku started celebrating.

"Yeah, I got Vegeta on my team!" he jumped up and down a little bit. All of the non-earth Saiyans stared at him with confused looks, probably wondering just what the hell he was on.

This continued until Bardock leaned over, "Sit down and shut up Kakarot!"

Goku was down on the ground in a heartbeat, "Yes, Papa." _Holy shit!_ All of the humans and earth Saiyans, Vegeta included, were shocked that someone, other than Chichi, could shut Goku up and make him sit down just by an order.

"What?" Bardock asked in the same tone though no one answered.

Team 1 was set, Goku and Vegeta, if Gohan and Goku wasn't happening, this would be the next worst case scenario for the Zerg, even if one of them was an idiot at heart. Fasha drew next, and drew team two, mine. My heart did a slight flip, as hers did as well. I felt relieved as this way I would be able to keep an eye on her.

"Bulma, make her redraw!" Vegeta barked.

"Yeah, it isn't a good idea to pair those two up," Goku said from his seat on the ground.

"They fight better when they have no distractions, and that is exactly what that would provide," Vegeta said, eyes closed.

Fasha turned her glare to him, but softened it quickly, "Fine." I felt a bit crushed, but I knew Vegeta was right, constant worrying was a distraction, and those tended to beat me more than any enemy. She drew team four, putting her with Bardock, which was fine by me. Shugesh and Borgos both drew team six. Seventeen and Buu both drew number five. That left Tora and Broly between Gohan and me. I was fine about being teamed with Tora, but neither of us were very familiar with Broly, at least as a friend or teammate. Tora drew number two, pairing him with me, leaving Broly with Gohan. Then I thought about that, damn that was one team the Zerg wouldn't want to mess with either, both were insanely strong. Strongest of the group come to think of it, at least physically. So the teams had been decided, Team one would be Goku and Vegeta. Team two consisted of Tora and myself. Team three was Gohan and Broly. Team four was Bardock and Fasha. Team five: Seventeen and the Fat version of Majin Buu. Team six, no surprise either, Shugesh and Borgos. The final team was Tien, Krillin and Piccolo.

"So kid, me and you stuck together again, and for once I actually am stronger aren't I?" Tora laughed and slugged my back a bit.

"I still have an ace or two up my sleeve, youth or not," I smirked at him.

"Good, cause me and you are gonna tear it up out there, the Zerg won't know what hit em!" _Now he's giving me that attitude that most adult men give to young boys, especially in competitive sports. Oh well I suppose I should expect a change in attitude towards me. _The respective teams got together for planning; I honestly thought that me and the other Saiyans were going to keep a kill count the way Tora and Shugesh were talking. Seventeen and Buu could barely communicate, but they really didn't need to. Everyone knew Buu could fight, strange tactics sometimes, but he could fight. Krillin, Tien and Piccolo probably had the most planning to do, their plan would have to be more strategic, but they had probably the smartest fighter in the galaxy on their side. The only ones that could equal Piccolo in the planning department were Vegeta, Gohan and Mom, and only two of them would fight. But they also didn't have two other Nameks fused with them either, giving the Super Namek the edge. Our plan were kept pretty simple, wipe out any Zerg we came across. While most would think that is obvious, but I heard Piccolo talking about battle movements and Vegeta talking divide and conquer, so I wasn't sure how this was going to play out. Of course no one's plan was going to work without communications, and to know the terrain we were going to be fighting in. But unfortunately the terrain wouldn't be able to be mastered; we frankly didn't know where and how the Zerg were going to come at us.

"Okay guys, let's get suited up. Mr. Satan and I are going to broadcast to the world about the Zerg, we might as well warn the people about the Zerg so they can take the correct measures, and our guest should be arriving shortly," Mom announced, leaving the room with a Capsule in hand. _Guest?_ Everyone else left to his or her assigned rooms as well, to change. Fasha and I of course used our room to change. She took off her rather tattered combat suit, the one she trained in, which smelled rather bad at this point. I opened up my capsule, to find a large dresser with Capsule Corp written all over it. Fasha's was the same. Our bodysuits lay inside, I noticed though instead of blue they were silver in color, very odd for a suit color, I had never seen one like that.

Fasha seemed to know though, "These were colors that only Frieza's ultra elites could wear. Teams like the Ginyu force were allowed such colors, but it was rarely worn. At that level everyone got a preference anyway," she explained.

"She probably got the idea from Vegeta, or maybe it's a new fabric, let's see," I said, running my finger down the side of the material. It felt like steel almost, except it was flexible. Whatever this stuff was, it was tough. I slipped on the suit, poking my tail through right away. The fabric seemed to bend around slowly and fit my form perfectly and held me firm. It was tight like it should be, but not strangling tight, and it was very easy to move with it. I noted that the armor was still colored gold, though it still looked good. Putting on the gloves and boots, I noticed an extra drawer that was filled up. Inside that was a small gold belt, with a golden holster on one end of it and some kind of pocket on the other. I put that on as well, turning to see Fasha doing the same. She really did look amazing in a combat suit, just the way her tail swished in the air made me shudder in excitement, kid or teenager. I rummaged through the last drawers, finding a familiar looking gun in the side one. It was also colored gold, thus showing off Mom's thing for matching colors, and gold did go good with silver. I saw the note left on it, mostly warnings and how to turn it on, but Mom had already shown me that. I slipped the gun into the holster, noticing that it was just the right fit and snapped in tightly. Also in the last drawer was a scouter, the new type that Mom had made for Zerg finding and communication. I slipped it on, the green screen filling my left field of vision, something that I probably wouldn't be happy about. With my outfit complete, I turned to see Fasha the same way, except for a pink colored scouter. I pressed the small button that Mom had installed new, and the green screen slid back into the scouter and made it easier to see fully. We nodded to each other, heading out the door and downstairs.

A few horns sounded out in the hall, and a tiny man came through the door, a red carpet rolling after him. Everyone was decked out in Saiyan style combat suits, even Mr. Satan and Chichi were. Not everyone's was silver though, Mom wore teal green armor, and it matched her hair very well. Eighteen, Chichi and Videl were also wearing green. Satan wore red, and honestly I don't know why, unless he was to look just like the leader or something. Seventeen and Tien were squirming around in their armor a bit, not used to the feeling. Goku and Vegeta had apparently opted to wear blue instead of silver, though it really didn't matter to us anyway. Roshi looked quite odd in armor, and Eighteen, well, there again I was slightly jealous of Krillin. To be honest, all of the women looked radiant in combat suits, mostly because it fit to every curve. Goten and Trunks were having a whispering argument over whose armor looked the best, even though theirs were the same. Just about everyone had a belt and holster for the special laser guns, armor or not. That of course didn't happen for the kids, Piccolo, Buu, Oolong, Puar and the turtle.

Mom had us all stand on a podium she had set up in the conference room that had been rebuilt, lined up like some corny group of pros or something. She and Mr. Satan stood in front of our little group, waiting for someone or something. Once the red carpet rolled in, the press started to file in, much to my dismay. I was relieved to see it was mostly just camera crews; the reporter number was almost nil. Then some kind of dog looking person came walking through, wearing a military uniform with a few medals dangling. He had blue skin with a white mustache and sideburns, and he seemed to smile when he saw Goku and Mom. His smile faded to fear when he looked my way, more specifically Piccolo's way, who was behind me.

"Who's that?" Fasha asked me.

"No clue," I said truthfully.

"That is the King of the world. Don't get the title wrong, it's not much of a rule over everything," Piccolo rasped behind us in a very low voice. _Guess that answers that. _

"Must be a constitutional monarchy huh?" I asked.

Piccolo grunted slightly, "Big words for you kid."

"Humph, I'll remember that if I have to save you from the hen clucking again!" I rasped back at him. Piccolo paled at that remark, it's aim was revolving around any female in the room who felt they had a bone to pick with him at any given time.

"Miss Bulma, Mr. Satan, good evening. Is everything prepared?"

"Yes, the scanners were placed around the lands of the world, except for Antarctica, but these creatures seem to be cold blooded so I doubt they'd set up there. And all of Earth's special forces have been gathered, we are ready to help in the fight against the Zerg. Conventional weapons are not going to be much against them, so I designed some special weapons for this that have proven effective against the smaller weaker types of Zerg. But I do not know how well they work against the larger types, and I don't have very many produced. I had my father start up the factory making only those a few days ago, so your troops will have a little bit to fight with," Mom explained.

"Thank you Miss Bulma, it is greatly appreciated. Give my thanks to the good doctor as well. Mr. Satan, would you like to go first or last?"

"I'll go last," Satan said quickly, re-reading the speech he had in front of him. Satan sure did look weird in combat armor, looked like he would just burst out of it any second, something I hoped didn't happen. That and I just now noticed his huge afro was trimmed down a bit, it didn't poof out a hundred yards anymore. A crowd of people started filing in, all of them decked out in army gear, a commanding officer here and there as well. The king stood in front of the podium, watching the cameraman's hand count down from five to one.

**-**

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen of the planet Earth. I stand before you not as the king, but as a civilian and proud member of this planet. A terrible event is about to occur, the Earth is about to be invaded by a hostile alien force. The aliens are called Zerg, an insect type race that destroys worlds in its own mad quest for power. As I speak they get closer to Earth, preparing its invasion forces. I have mobilized the entire world army to combat these Zerg, wherever they may appear. Some of you may have already seen these Zerg, as their smallest types resemble dogs. Since conventional weapons may not work on these beasts, I have also asked Mr. Satan and the Earth's Special Forces, also known as the Gold Fighters, to assist in this matter. They are all present and accounted for here, and will strike at these Zerg once they land and it is decided their help is needed. With any luck this invasion will be defeated swiftly, however there is a very real chance we may not succeed in this battle, making what I say next very important. I am initiating the world draft, all men and women twenty years and older that are willing and able, will take up arms to combat these fiends. Those who have children are excused from this however, as well as anyone over the age of fifty. There are draft centers set up around the clock in every main city on the planet. For those who want to evacuate, there are safe zones being set up in West city, Satan City, North city, and South City. We are expecting most of the Zerg to show up in the eastern continent due to the lower population, but that does not mean they couldn't show up anywhere else. As I said before, this is a race of conquest and no true preference. I am standing with Miss Bulma Briefs, who has more details on these vile Zerg," the king stepped out of the way, allowing Mom to step up to the podium with a huge stack of papers.

Her speech was much longer than the king's, mostly covering safety issues, and then what to do when encountering Zerg and details on evacuation. Then it was Satan's turn, who took a deep breath, rubbed his barely shaven face and stepped up to the plate.

"People of Earth, my fans, humans all around! I'm afraid this is an evil that even I can't defeat alone. So I have gathered Earth's special forces to help in the fight, they will be dressed in combat suits similar to the ones you see before you. Do not fear them, they are here to help, but also do not get in their way. Since we do not know how long this will last, those drafted into the army will have two options: You can join the regular troops and fight the Zerg directly, or you can come to my new training camp located at Capsule Corp compound in West city. There you will learn how to fight like I do, and may be able to learn little tricks like this!" That's when Satan's ki shot way up, a lot stronger. He held up his palm and a ki ball popped out. My eyes shot open, as well as about half the room as he held it above his hand.

"I thought he was a basic human weakling that couldn't use ki?" Fasha whispered.

"Yeah so did I!" I replied in amazement.

"You missed a lot while you were away kid. I couldn't believe it myself when he came to me for lessons, but he was a good student, and his power increased a lot, compared to what it was anyway," Piccolo smirked slightly.

"You trained him?" I asked in shock.

"Gohan helped a bit in that department, but for the most part yes. He is about equal to the Saiyan Nappa when he was here. It only took a half a day in the time chamber to pull that off, and he's been masking his power ever since. That is probably why you didn't notice it before," Piccolo explained.

"I'll be damned, the noisy fool actually had potential after all, or he was extremely motivated," Vegeta muttered as Satan ranted on the mic.

"It was the latter. He didn't want to be caught off guard in his own home again, not with Videl pregnant and all," Gohan whispered from beside Piccolo.

"We will not be pushed around by some pack of aliens that thinks they're better than us! We will show them they can't just come down here and watch us give up and beg, they will be DEFEATED!" Satan raised his hands up in victory. A huge roar went up from the troops in the room, as our little group clapped a bit for Satan's little speech. The noise got rather deafening then, much to the pain of all the Saiyan and Namek ears in the room, but we ignored it. After everything went off the air, the troops left shortly before the king did, I suspected they were his escort or something.

"I'll be transmitting my signal around the clock to your office," Mom said to the king at the door.

"Thank you Bulma, we will send all of our troops to attack the Zerg once they arrive. I'll give you the call when we need the backup," the king said.

"That will be pretty obvious, my scanners will pick that up. Good luck sir," Mom said, shutting the door as he left with his guards around him.

**-**

Fasha and I woke up early, as we barely slept at all, and had to pet each other's tails just to get any sleep. Of course she had more of a noisy reaction then I did. The promise of heated battle just couldn't leave our system, and that got us up and ready to go the instant our eyes opened. After a very quick and light breakfast, we all gathered in the lobby, watching the holographic display. Mom had left it on the long-range scanner, showing the large purple dot in orbit now. And the land over the Eastern continent was showing up purple on the earth's display.

"They arrived late last night about two in the morning or so. The only forces that were deployed went straight to the East continent and started establishing bases. I've counted at least seven hive clusters that took form, and about a half a million troops or so of various types. Odd though, the rest of the force stayed in orbit, around something massive and alive. I actually got ki readings from it!" Mom explained as she switched through the views. One of the camera sensors showed a fight between a farmer armed with a pitchfork, and a Zergling. The farmer was able to stab the thing in the back, downing it. He thought he had won and wiped his brow. Another Zergling came up behind him and jumped at his head, taking it clean off his shoulders. The rest of the cameras showed a few structures of Zerg bases, with all kinds of ground troops running around, and several flyers around, mostly Overlords. They seemed to be running around randomly as the drones collected materials and goods, mostly trees and other useful things, though I saw a few dead animals and people in the mix.

"Why aren't they attacking?" Krillin asked as the phone rang, Mom picked it up next to the screen.

"I suspect they are preparing to, they aren't all mindless, and I have a gut feeling that the Overmind is the large object in orbit over the east continent. It may not stay there, it may land and take up residence and that's why they are building up right now. It makes since to prep a base with backup before letting a king step into it right?" Piccolo asked the former monk.

"Good point Piccolo," Krillin said, starring in wonder. Then all of the Zerg troops started spreading out, and soon the map grid showed flashes of red in-between the occupied and non-occupied areas.

"It's begun," I whispered, Vegeta nodded.

"What's going on?" Tien asked. Mom slammed down the phone from where it had been, a grim look on her face.

"What is it Bulma?" Goku asked, adjusting his gloves.

"That was the King, the troops have just engaged the Zerg!"

**Final Power levels:**** These will be the set levels as we get the invasion underway, and they will remain relatively the same through out the Series until things start happening that requires a change:**

**Mystic Verto: 200,000,000(max), Kaioken: 300,000,000**

**Mystic Gohan: 550,000,000(max)**

**Vegeta: 95,000,000, SS1: 218,000,000, SS2: 430,000,000, SS3: 535,000,000**

**Goku: 98,000,000, SS1: 220,000,000, SS2: 430,000,000, SS3: 540,000,000**

**Piccolo: 250,000,000(max)**

**Goten: 36,000,000, SS1: 98,000,000**

**Trunks: 39,000,000, SS1: 100,000,000**

**Bardock: 85,000,000, SS1: 215,000,000, SS2: 420,000,000**

**Tora: 78,000,000, SS1: 200,000,000, SS2: 410,000,000**

**Shugesh: 75,000,000, SS1: 190,000,000, SS2: 390,000,000**

**Borgos: 74,000,000, SS1: 190,000,000, SS2: 388,000,000**

**Fasha: 65,000,000, SS1: 170,000,000, SS2: 360,000,000**

**Broly: 105,000,000, SS1: 330,000,000, Ultra Super Saiyan: 540,000,000**

**17: 100,000,000**

**18: 60,000,000**

**Tien: 75,000,000**

**Krillin: 40,000,000**

**Mr. Satan: 5,000**

**Buu: 400,000,000**

**I love ending things with a big cliffhanger, sorry guys I said to the start of the invasion, and bam, there it is. To know what happens, you'll have to read DBV 4: Zerg Wars 1: Invasion. I'd leave a preview, but I don't want to spoil anything.**


End file.
